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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/insoutsoflondonOOodan 



INS AND OUTS 



OP 



LONDON: 



BY 



W. O'DANIEL 



" A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, 

Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye 
Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping 

In sight, then lost amidst the forestry 
Of masts ; a wilderness of steeples peeping 

On tip-toe, through their sea-coal canopy— 
A huge dun cupola, like a fool's cap crown, 

On a fool's head— and there is London town ! 



* * * j» ***** 

For Juan stood well, both with Ins and Outs." 



Byron. 




PUBLISHED BY S. C. LAMB, 

310 CHESTNUT STREET. 

1859. 



<v 



THE LIBRARY 
OF C ONGR ESS 

WASHINGTON 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

S. C. LAMB, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the Eastern 

District of Pennsylvania. 



ROBB, PILE, & M'ELROY, Printers. 



S. D. Wyeth„Agt., Stbrkotypbju 
209 Pear Street Pliilaia. 



TO 

GIDEON T. TODD, 

Formerly of Delaware, 
Now of Philadelphia, 

WHOSE SUGGESTIONS AND ASSISTANCE IN BRINGING THESE SKETCHES BEFORE 
THE PUBLIC HAVE BEEN OF MUCH SERVICE, 
THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY 
DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 

The City of London — the great metropolis 
of Britain, produces more numerous and grander 
points of attraction than any other city in the 
world. During a somewhat lengthy residence in 
that city I collected various statements and pre- 
pared extensive notes concerning many of those 
grand points, not dreaming at that time that these 
scribblings would ever be presented to the pub- 
lic eye, unless through the unpretending columns 
of some village Journal. Why they appear in 
the present form, I am free to confess, I really do 
not know — -although it is said there should be an 
object in every undertaking. 

Books containing descriptions of countries 
and cities have at all times met with some degree 
of popular favor, and in fact more so than have 
works of romance or poetry. A large number 

1* (vii) 



Vlll PREFACE. 

of works on London have appeared within a few 
years but the theme is not yet exhausted. Lon- 
don, large, dirty, dusky, crowded, and ever-enter- 
taining London will furnish material for the 
most unpretending pen for centuries to come. 
Here have lived Shakspeare, Milton, Locke, 
Bacon, Goldsmith, JNTewton — and an " innumera- 
ble host " of poets, sages, heroes, and statesmen, 
and here still is the abode of learning, intelli- 
gence, industry, and commerce. In the following- 
pages I have not endeavored to produce anything 
new. The majority of the objects themselves, 
upon which I have written, are old— and the 
accounts we have of them are old — but, as I have 
before stated, the theme is exhaustless. I have 
principally endeavored to describe persons and 
things as I found them — nothing more. The 
pleasure of occupying many leisure hours has 
repaid me for all trouble taken with my notes — 
and thus, w^ith a clear conscience and without 
apology, I cast the drop into the fathomless sea 
of books. Wm. O'D. 

Wilmington Del 1858. 



CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTION 

The Voyage.- — Starting.— Dinner at Sea. 
— Pleasures of Sea Sickness.— Every-day 
life at Sea. — An Excitement. — Death in the 
Forecastle. — Burial at Sea. — Shores of Eng- 
land. — The Goodwin Sands. — Deal Boatmen. 
— Salvage Laws. — Custom House Officers. — 
London, .... page 17 

CHAPTER I. 

Streets of London. — Origin of the City. 
— Irregularity of the Streets, page 37 

CHAPTER II. 

The Houses. — Number and Variety. 
— Stores. — American Stores in London. — 
Patent Right Laws, - - page 47 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Inhabitants. — Queen Victoeia. — 
Peince Albeet and the " Family." — Couet 
cleculae." — eveey-day life of the aeistoc- 
eacy, ... . page 57 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Inhabitants Continued. — The Mid- 
dle Class. — Geneeal Ignoeance. — Gulla- 
bility. — Deess. — Unifoems. — Teachees. — 
Beauty and Health of the Ladies. — Lowee 
Classes. — Peostitution. — Humane Societies. 
— The Woekhouse, - - - page 75 

CHAPTER V. 

Westminstee Abbey. — " Poets' Coe- 
nee." — hlstoey. — tlie chapel of heney 
vii. — Legends in Stone. — The Monu- 
ments, - page 92 



CONTENTS. xi 

CHAPTER VI. 

Amusements. — The Handel Festival. — 
" God save the Queen." — The Opera — " Her 
Majesty's Theatre." — Piccolomini — La Tra- 
viata. — The Consumption. — Co vent Garden 
Theatre. — Go vent Garden Market. — A Bal 
Masque.— -Drury Lane Theatre. — Correspon- 
dence of the Stage Managers. — Haunts 
of Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild and 
others. — Music Halls. — Home Amuse- 
ments, page 107 

CHAPTER VII. 

St. Paul's Cathedral. — The Druids.— 
History. — The Organ. — Reading Desk.— 
Communion Table. — Monuments. — Bishop 
Heber. — The Library. — Whispering Gal- 
lery. — The Great Bell. — The Ball. — The 
Crypts. — Wellington's Titles. — Service of 
the Church of England vs. the Prayer 
Book, page 130 



XU CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Parks and Gardens. — Hyde Park. — 
Achilles. — Sublimity and Business. — The 
Serpentine. — Riders. — Buckingham Palace/ 
— St. James' Palace, and Park. — The Poet 
Rogers' House. — Regent's Park, and 
Amusements. — Kew. — Surrey and Spur- 
geon, - page 155 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Crystal Palace. — John Bull's In- 
consistency. — Pleasure Grounds of the 
Crystal Palace. — Water Temples. — The 
Pre-Adamite Inhabitants of the Earth. — 
Arrangements for the comfort of Visitors. 
— Gallery Stores and Statuary, page 178 

CHAPTER X. 

Courts of the Crystal Palace. — The 
Court of the Alhambra. — The Egyptian 



CONTENTS. Xiii 

Court. — The Tomb of Abousaimbul. — The 
Greek and Roman Courts. — Hindoo laws of 
Architecture. — The Apollo Belvidere. — 
The Pompeian Court. — Herculaneum and 
Pompeii. — The Nineveh Court. — Byzantine 
Court. — The Medi jevel Courts. — Nubian 
Court. — The Italian, Renaissance and In- 
dustrial Courts, - - - page 193 

CHAPTER XL 

Down the Thames. — The Great Fire of 
1666. — The Fire Monument. — London 
Bridge. — English Steamboats. — Billings- 
gate. — Custom House. — Mud Larks. — The 
Tower of London. — Trinity House. — 
Docks, ..... page 249 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Thames, Continued. — Thames' Tun- 
nel. — Greenwich. — Millwall — the " Big 
Ship." — Blackwall. — East India Docks. — 

2 



xiv contents. 

West India Docks. — Victoria Docks. — 
Woolwich. — Gravesend, and the United 
States' War Frigates, " Niagara" — " Sus- 
quehanna," .... page 274 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Palace of Westminster, or the 
New Houses of Parliament. — History. — 
Description. — The Princes' Chamber. — 
The House of Lords. — The Throne. — 
Parliamentary Anecdotes. — St. Stephen's 
and Westminster Hall. — The House of 
Commons. — The Members. — Elective Com- 
panies, - ... page 296 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Hotels. — Coffee and Chop Houses — Gin 
Palaces. — Boarding Houses. — Miseries of 
Boarding, - - - - page 318 



CONTENTS. XV 



CHAPTER XV. 

The British Museum. — History and 
Description. — Room of the Gods. — The 
Library. — Madam Tussaud's Exhibition. — 
That Lady and General Washington. — The 
Royal Family. — The Hall of Kings. — The 
Shrine of Napoleon, or the Golden Cham- 
ber. — Clothing and Equipage of Napoleon. 
— The Chamber of Horrors. — The 
Guilotine. — Interesting Predicament. — The 
Bastile, page 333 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A Heterogeneous Mass. — Rail Road 
Travelling. — City Funerals — The Bank 
of England. — The Royal Exchange. — 
Petticoat Lane. — Trafalgar Square. — The 
Temple, page 355 



XVI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Hampton Coukt Palace. — History and 
Description. — Royal Relics. — The Cartoons 
of Raphael. — Wolsey's Hall. — The Palace 
Gardens. — Cardinal Wolsey. — His Private 
Life. — His Desertion and Death, page 381 



INTRODUCTION. 

THE VOYAGE.— STARTING.— DINNER AT SEA. 
—PLEASURES OF SEA SICKNESS.— E VERY-DAY 
LIFE AT SEA.— AN EXCITEMENT.— DEATH IN 
THE FORECASTLE.— BURIAL AT SEA.— SHORES 
OF ENGLAND.— THE GOODWIN SANDS.— DEAT, 
BOATMEN.— SALVAGE LAWS.— CUSTOM HOUSE 
OFFICERS.— LONDON. 

That this is a world of mutation is a fact too 
well known to require comment. It is equally 
certain that the mental structure of " Young- 
America" undergoes this mutating operation 
quite as frequently as does anything else. I 
might give many reasons for my sudden deter- 
mination to " brave the dangers of the deep " in 
the midst of winter and of college studies, but 
knowing the world, or rather the inhabitants 
thereof are not slow in judging and attributing 

2* ( xvii ) 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

causes for every effect under the sun I will allow 
said inhabitants to indulge their Yankee pro- 
pensity for " guessing " at my reasons. The con- 
clusion to go — however — was most certainly 
arrived at; and here one half the battle was 
over; preparations for — and the journey, were 
secondary considerations. A few days passed — 
I found myself standing on the platform of the 
cars, about to start for New York, and wafting 
an affectionate farewell from the folds of a pocket- 
handkerchief to Rev. — 's " Seminary girls ?" My 
feelings at this moment were of the indescribable 
kind. Suffice it to say that only the considera- 
tion I entertained for the spotless purity of the 
aforesaid handkerchief prevented its being appro- 
priated in a different manner. The iron horse 
gave the starting signal, I cast a long-lingering, 
last look at the College steeple in the distance 
(which looked unusually beautiful) and away we 
went "riding on the rail." 

After arriving in New York I was not long- 
in coming to satisfactory conclusions concerning 
how I should embark. At two o'clock one after- 
noon I was seated in one of the innumerable 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

skiffs that surround the piers in the East River, 
sailing out the Harbor towards what the owner 
called the largest and best clipper ship ever built 

— by name W of Rockland, Maine ; under 

command of Captain W. C . I soon got com- 
fortably established on board, and made the 
acquaintance of all the passengers — two in num- 
ber — both Englishmen who had been fortune 
hunting in the West and having partially suc- 
ceeded were about to return to " merry Old Eng- 
land " to spend Christmas with their relations. 
We were soon out of the harbor, and spent the 
remainder of the afternoon in devising schemes 
for murdering time during the voyage. After 
tea we were entertained by the captain with finely 
spun yarns of his own adventures on the " ocean 
wave." At ten o'clock I made a critical inves- 
tigation into the comforts of my sleeping apart- 
ment. Fully satisfied with the result, and the 
" bunk" looked so inviting I was not long in per- 
forming for the first time the " turning in " opera- 
tion. This, as every one knows who has been at 
sea, is performed by balancing oneself very 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

evenly on one side of the bunk and turning over ; 
and woe be to the man that forgets he is not on a 
four-post bedstead* 

November. — Wakened by an unearthly noise 
on deck, got up, clothed myself in the worst look- 
ing " rigging " I could command, and went out. 
Found the noise to proceed from the sailors who 
were hoisting more sail and dragging the anchor 
cable between decks. Satisfied with my dis- 
coveries I returned, called my fellow travellers 
from their slumbers, and soon partook of my first 
ship-breakfast. The variety and quality of this 
I defy a French connoiseur to have found fault 
with. Breakfast over went again on deck and 
found a pleasant seat aft. It was a beautiful day 
— warm for so late in the fall, and altogether the 
proper time, place, and circumstances to indulge 
in a revery. 

The distant shores of my native land were 
fading like a mist away. Home, relatives, and 
friends were on that land ; — between us nothing but 
the "deep, dark blue ocean," and involuntarily 
the questions arose, When shall I again see them ? 



INTRODUCTION. * Xxi 

What changes may take place! I am about to 
roam I know not where, or how far I may be driven 
by that love of travel I cannot restrain! — 
Land entirely disappeared. 

Behind me rolled the sea — ahead the sea — 
on either side the sea — above, the clear blue sky 
— below, a thing of planks buoyed upon the waves 
to save me from an awful plunge. 

I was soon joined by my companions, who I 
found objected very seriously to saying anything 
either about the past or the land behind, but were 
faithfully occupied in thoughts of the future, 
when they should meet with those from whom 
they had parted long before. On a resolution 
unanimously agreed upon by all three, that under 
ordinary circumstances neither of us, in presence 
of the others, should look, act, or speak seriously 
for the remainder of the voyage, we adjourned to 
dinner. In my mind there exists a very intimate 
relationship between dining and dying. I seldom 
do the former without thinking a little of the 
latter. I am hardly able to account for this asso- 
ciation of ideas unless it be that we do the first 



XX11 INTRODUCTION. 

in order to delay as long as possible the second. 
Or, perhaps, it may be caused by seeing turkeys, 
chickens, portions of beef and mutton that " once 
glowed with the rose tint of health " lying, stript 
of their glory in the trenchers. Moreover, this 
eating is a vulgar institution. The idea of a 
young lady, perhaps one that we almost idolize, 
the idea of such a one stretching her pretty face 
into hideous shapes in the act of conveying to her 
mouth a piece of steaming hot plum pudding, 
apple dumpling, or " corn, hot on the ear.' 7 It is 
absurd. It spoils all the romance. Dinner on 
shore, even in a storm, is vastly different from 
dinner at sea. For instance suppose you take 
tea for dinner, spend ten minutes in getting it 
properly sweetened, about to convey it to your 
lips — ship rolls a little — pour the tea in your 
bosom — and are perfectly convinced without desir- 
ing farther demonstration that " there's many a 
slip 'tween the cup and the lip." 

A beautiful potato (that is what my English 
friends call a fine one) claims your attention — it 
is on the other side of the table — friend hands 



introduction. xxiii 

you the dish — ship rolls a little as before — stick the 
fork in your hand — drop the dish — and meditate 
on the folly of all human expectations. 

" In the course of human events " dinner was 
over — and the dav soon followed. In the evening 
it clouded over, the winds began a concert among 
the rigging, and the barometer gave every indica- 
tion of a squally night. JSTo indication of sea- 
sickness yet — cannot tell what the remainder 
may prove. Turned in very early. 

November. — I have been sea-sick! It is a 
peculiar sensation. So peculiar I cannot describe 
it. It is an awful institution. So awful it cannot 
be imagined. It is a feeling of perfect worthless- 
ness. The person who would have thrown me 
overboard I truly believe I could have considered 
mv best friend. What a night it was ! I have 
often heard about waves running mountain high 
but thought it all poetical imagination. I am 
now convinced beyond a doubt that there are such 
things. The wind blew and howled among the 
rigging; the ship "tossed to and fro like a 
drunken man" and I was nearly at my "wits 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

end." From these causes, and I am sure they 
were sufficient for any one, I was anything but 
sentimentally sea-sick. Managed to get out on 
deck, found the storm still raging. There was a 
great deal of water aboard, and waves continu- 
ally washing over us. Everything that was not 
" lashed up " was floating about in wild confusion, 
and it was almost impossible for the crew to walk 
about. A man was lost overboard from the main 
yard sometime in the night but not an effort could 
be made to save him. — Struck by a wave, carried 
half way along the deck, brought up in collision 
with a hatch house — soaked through — and con- 
cluded it was about time for a " landsman " to 
leave for the cabin. The soaking was not very 
agreeable, and changed my mind about drowning. 
One of the effects of sea-sickness is that appetite 
is an unknown quantity or quality which nothing 
can equal. Breakfast I did not touch. Made 
my usual memoranda and turned in. 

December. — Nothing written in my "log 
book " for over a week — and for several reasons. 
The ship overloaded by several tons sat very low 



INTRODUCTION. XXV 

in the water so that the waves completely swept 
her decks. The ship continued rolling. If these 
are not excellent reasons for not journalizing, 
I possess one unanswerable argument in my 
favor. I have been turned in since Saturday — 
more than a week have not eaten a mouthful, 
and have had a bucket somewhere in proximity 
to my bunk. The steward persisted in coming a 
dozen times a day to see if I wanted anything, 
when even to talk about eating made me wonder 
why the art was invented. I apparently got 
along very well without it. On complete recovery, 
however, as is always the case, I could destroy any- 
thing mentioned in the vocalulary of cooking from 
" soft tack " and " salt junk "to a roast turkey. 
My companions were in the same predicament 
and the black steward looked thunder-struck at 
the vengeance wreaked upon his various and 
sometimes incomprehensible dishes. The day 
according to the Almanac and observances on 
land was Sunday. Our voyage being so very 
stormy the steamer had no Sunday. The same 
course of work had to be carried on as through 

6 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

the week. On many ships this is the case in 
pleasant weather as well as stormy. I have known 
owners to discharge captains for allowing the 
crew to observe the Sabbath as far as it was pos- 
sible at sea. The reason given for this is that a 
ship at sea demands every moment of daylight 
in attending to the examination of rigging, stores^ 
and other portions of the ship. At sea a day 
commences twelve o'clock — noon. Then all 
hands fore and aft take dinner. The crew 
is divided evenly in two watches, larboard and 
starboard. One under command of the first mate 7 
the other under the second mate. Some ships 
require all hands on duty through the day — our 
voyage being very rough and laborious — and 
having a good crew — the watches did duty alter- 
nately. A watch is four hours, commencing at 
noon or eight bells. The dog watches — when 
observed — are from four to six, and from six to 
eight o'clock, P. M. In emergency all hands, 
even to steward and cook, are called and must 
perform with dexerity any thing commanded. 
Thus one day passes, and thus another, and 
apparently " we take no note of time." 



INTRODUCTION. XXvii 

December. — Three days more have passed 
but who could describe them ! In jpauca verba 
nothing but a succession of rain and hail squalls, 
rough seas, waves dashing over the ship and all 
the other pleasant things attendant on ocean 
travelling in December. Last night capped the 
climax. It was about twelve o'clock. My friends 
had just turned in, I had been in for some time 
and was dozing slightly, when I was completely 
wakened by finding myself thrown, in a denuded 
condition, very unceremoniously into the middle 
of the room. Fortunately I "landed" upon a 
very largely developed, but unpoetical portion of 
my " fizzical phraam." I had not long remained 
in this situation, when a small boat that had been 
washed off the poop in spite of its firm lashings, 
broke in the cabin door, followed by a huge body 
of water, with boards, spars, barrel staves, and 
pieces of wood of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. 
By this time all hands headed by the captain 
were out on deck examining into the amount of 
damage sustained. A wave unusually large had 
broken over the after part of the ship, carrying 



XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 

from the quarter deck, the boats besides a man 
and a boy who were on watch. The violence of 
the water stove in two hatch houses, broke down 
the cabin doors, and broke in several large water 
casks. The man was found dead, lying under 
a heavy spar, and the boy escaped injury by hav- 
ing been covered with one of the boats which had 
fallen keel up. We got a little righted and turned 
in again. The day broke clear and beautiful. A 
striking contrast from last night. I can hardly 
imagine this the same ship — and floating on the 
same sea. Everything on board looks clean and 
bright — everything in perfect order — the sea so 
smooth that not the slightest ripple can be seen — 
nothing except a great broad lazy roll — and the 
sails hang loose without the slightest wind to fill 
them. There is sorrow in the forecastle ! — Of it 
the dead man was the light. The captain 
respected him — the mates loved him — the crew 
were as his brothers — and the boys looked upon 
him as the true pattern of a Yankee tar. At ten 
o'clock borne by a body of the sailors, and 
enshrouded in the stars and stripes, the body was 



INTRODUCTION. XXIX 

brought upon deck. A more solemn scene I 
never witnessed. Everything so tranquil, not the 
straining of a cord to be heard, and the ship 
seemed to cease moving on the surface of the 
great deep. The captain with trembling voice 
read the sublime, and on this occasion, peculiarly 
touching burial service of the Episcopal Church. 
At the words " We commit his body to the deep," 
he was quietly dropped into his watery grave. A 
plunge — a separation of the waters — he was lost 
forever to the sight — and the billows of the great 
Atlantic rolled on as before. 



" Lonely, lonely is his bed, 
Never there may flowers be shed, 
Marble reared, or brother's head 
Bow'd to weep." 



A sailor on shore and a sailor at sea appear 
to belong to two different classes of beings. On 
shore he is out of his element. At sea beneath 
a rough exterior he seems to have better oppor- 
tunities for showing forth a heart as warm as 
ever throbbed in the bosom of wealth and refine- 
ment. A more solemn set than there is on board 

3* 



XXX INTRODUCTION. 

this ship I never saw — the slightest desire 
of the officer seems anticipated by the willing- 
crew — meals have not been touched — every one 
seems busy with his own thoughts — and heavy 
hearts will be carried through the tedious watches 
of this night : 



u Ave, sanctissima ! 
*Tis nightfall on the sea ; 

Ora pro nobis ! 
Our souls rise to thee ! 



" Watch us while shadows lie 
O'er the dim waters spread ; 
Hear the heart's lonely sigh, 
Thine, too, hath bled ! 

* Thou, that hast looked on death, 
Aid us when death is near ; 
Whisper of heaven to faith ; 
Sweet Mother, hear. 

" Ora pro nobis ! 
The wave must rock our sleep, 

Ora, mater, ora ! 
The star of the deep !" 



December. — The anxiously looked for chalky 
cliffs of England are not only in sight but are 
close at hand. Last evening we passed a short 
distance from the clebrated Eddvstone Lio'ht- 



INTRODUCTION. XXXI 

house. At a later hour lights on the coast of 
France, off to the southwest were distinctly seen. 
To-day we passed the Bill of Portland, and 
through a glass we could discern the people in 
the town of Dorchester, We are now at anchor 
off the Isle of Wight. 

December. — Passed the far-famed Goodwin 
Sands — Beachy Head, and through the straits of 
Dover. Sailors generally indulge in some super- 
stitious belief. I have sometimes conversed with 
them concerning some modern idea — and found 
they rejected it altogether, but at the same time 
they would cling to an old tale — narrated per- 
haps when they were but ship boys, many years 
before. There is no subject upon which they are 
so generally superstitious as they are concerning 
the Goodwin Sands. The very name speaks to 
them of dangers so great, that do what they can 
they cannot ward them off. There are many 
romances, poems and plays whose foundations are 
laid on the Goodwin Sands ; and sailors suppose 
that these are the only things which can be founded 
thereon. The legend is that formerly the Sands 



XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 

were good solid earth joined to England, but Earl 
Godwin having made an unsuccessful attempt to 
invade the Weald of Kent and being in great 
danger made a vow that if spared he would erect 
to the memory of the Virgin a steeple in Tenter- 
den ! and his vow passing away with his danger. 
Heaven in consequence destroyed his land. 

Another is, that he was so greatly engaged 
in fulfilling his vow that he neglected to make a 
sea-wall around his land, and during a great 
storm and earthquake it was destroyed; and 
there afterwards remained only the Sands on 
which nothing could rest a moment without being 
swallowed up. Its density was supposed to be less 
than that of water. " One story is good until another 
is told." Experiments were made on the sands, 
and it was discovered that its density instead of 
being less than water, was much greater than 
that of earth, almost as great as that of hard rock 
and firmly resisted a pickaxe. To warn sailors 
of too near an approach a light was erected here. 
This stood many years without sinking the eighth 
of an inch. It was run into and knocked down 



INTRODUCTION. XXxiii 

by a Dutch barque at high water. Many lights 
have been erected since then, but have not been 
very successful as a means of saving life. The 
Sands are so very near the coast that lights only 
tend to mislead the mariner. The Deal Boat- 
men are the most beneficial instruments of saving 
life from accidents in this quarter of the Channel. 
These boatmen from their disinterested hospitality 
and their endeavours to save life at the greatest 
risk of their own have worthily become of great 
reputation. The Salvage Act of England operates 
very singularly as regards the Deal Boatmen. 
They are rewarded very liberally by the Govern- 
ment, for all descriptions of goods which they 
save ; they receive five shillings (one dollar and 
twenty cents) for every corpse they bring on shore, 
but yet nothing except thanks for live humanity, 
even should they save a hundred. During a 
storm a few years ago a Norwegian barque was 
wrecked. The boatmen cared nothing about the 
goods on board but risked their lives to save the 
crew and saved it — and received thanks. Another 
barque was wrecked, the boatmen went out to 



XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 

save the crew — could find no part of it — saved 
a few goods and got liberally rewarded. An 
American ship was wrecked in the vicinity — the 
boatmen saved a number of lives — the news was 
sent to the " States " — and each boatman engaged 
in the transaction received a vove of thanks, a gold 
medal and a very liberal sum of money from the 
President. (Hon. Franklin Pierce.) 

We came to anchor off Gravesencl about 
twenty-six miles from London. From the river 
this is a dirty looking town — coal smoked and 
poorly built. A friend says it is much better 
than it appears. Here, as is always the case, 
three Custom House Officers came on board and 
searched all the baggage and stores. In the 
trunks every article was carefully looked at. Out 
of about one hundred books that I had with me 
not one escaped a critical examination of its title 
page in order to see whether or not it was an 
American edition of an English book. The duties 
on these are generally high. Their principal 
search was for tobacco. The duty on fine manu- 
factured tobacco is tremendous and brines into the 



INTRODUCTION. XXXV 

government coffers about fifteen millions of dol- 
lars annually. Ladies' baggage, even the unmen- 
tionables, is by these officers held in no high 
degree of estimation and is alike exposed by law 
to their inquisitiveness. 

December. — And finally. On our way to 
London, with beautiful farms, villas, mansions, 
and hovels on all sides. Everything looks Eng- 
lish, and nearly as I imagined them. We are 
going to enter Victoria Docks. Came up to the 
pier — friends anxiously awaiting friends — busi- 
ness men hurrying on board and off again — the 
crew, as is usual, left the pier — and having bid 
good bye to all friends, I started for the crowd and 
confusion, and was not long in finding my way to 
the boarding house to which I had been recom- 
mended. Spent my first night at home pro tern. 
making the acquaintance of the family, which at 
some future time I may introduce to all who 
desire to become acquainted. 



e Ifrota — Origin of % City 



CHAPTER I. 

" Houses, churches mix'd together, 
Streets unpleasant in all weather : 
Prisons, palaces contiguous. 
Gates, a bridge, the Thames irriguous ; 
Gaudy things enough to tempt ye, 
Showy outsides, insides empty ; 
Bubbles, trades, mechanic arts, 
Coaches, wheelbarrows and carts ; 
Warrants, bailiffs, bills unpaid, 
Lords of laundresses afraid : 
Kogues that nightly rob and shoot men ; 
Hangmen, Aldermen, and footmen, 
Lawyers, poets, priests, physicians, 
Noble, simple, all conditions." 

IRREGULARITY OF THE STREETS. 

The origin of the British Metropolis, the 
" Royal Chamber of the British Sovereigns," is 
involved in great obscurity. In fact, historians 
of the olden time, have such a peculiarly interest- 
ing manner of contradicting each other and of 
introducing their own opinions and prejudices, 
that it is often impossible for the reader to arrive 
at any very definite conclusion of the truth. 

4 C37J 



38 OKIGIN OF LONDON. 

Geoffrey of Monmouth says, that London was 
founded by Brute, a descendant from iEneas, 
Son of Venus, daughter of Jupiter, about 1108. 
B. C. He calls it Troynovant, Trinovant, or 
New Troy. Tacitus calls it for the first Lon- 
dinium. Marcellinus, 380. A. D. calls it then 
Vetustum Oppidum, an ancient town. King Lud is 
said to have called it Caer Lud, or Luddin, the 
City of Lud. A late writer gives the etymology 
in several manners, and the present inhabitants 
of the world, I suppose, are allowed the liberty 
of believing whichever they think right and 
proper. 

Lhong means a ship, Dinas a town — hence 
Lhongdinas, Londin a city or harbor of ships. A 
great harbor the city certainly seems to be. From 
the manner in which towns were formerly built, 
that is in a wood, I believe that the following is 
nearer the truth. Llhwn a wood, Dinas a town. 
London was commenced in the centre of a wood, 
on the northern bank of the Thames. From this 
centre it was increased for a time only in one 
direction — towards the river, in order to allow the 
warlike tribes, who inhabited it, time to escape in 
their barges in case of a sudden attack by their 



STREETS. 39 

enemies. The inhabitants at this time were in 
the same condition as the Indians of North 
America, and living in, if possible, a more bar- 
barous manner. It must be borne in mind then 
that London was founded nearly three thousand 
years ago. This vast length of time will become 
more apparent when we remember that the dis- 
covery of America by Columbus was only three 
hundred and sixty-six years ago, and that the great- 
est city in America has been founded within that 
time. 

The inhabitants of London then in increas- 
ing their city increased it only along the Thames. 
The Thames is the most irregular stream I ever 
saw. The streets or rather the goat-paths lead- 
ing from hut to hut were consequently irregular. 
The inhabitants still increased. More pretend- 
ing habitations were erected. Horses, carts, 
wheelbarrows, and other means of conveyance 
where unknown; and one of the first laws (a 
model British law) was, that the passages be- 
tween the houses should be wide enough to allow 
" one man to pass another with a bundle on his 
back." Horses next came into use as a mode of 
conveyance. The passages were made a little 



40 STREETS. 

wider. Carts of different kinds made their 
appearance. The passages were made a little 
wider and called streets. The inhabitants got 
tired of widening their streets, and from that time to 
the present, although more than two thousand 
years have passed they seem never to have gotten 
over their fatigue. It is a fact, that although the 
population is now over three millions, and these 
making pretensions to refinement, architectural 
taste and knowledge of how things ought to be, 
they are yet to make a very great change before 
they will have even an improvement upon the 
streets as laid out by their savage ancestors. 
There are, it is true, some half dozen (not one 
more) that have been made within a few years 
that are wider than the old ones but equally 
crooked. It is impossible to convince an Eng- 
lishman that a city could be laid out at right 
angles, In London there are ten thousand five 
hundred streets and it would puzzle, as the Eng- 
lish say of anything puzzling, "a Philadelphia 
lawyer" to find ten in this entire number that 
would form right angles a half dozen times in 
succession by meeting or crossing other streets. 
I have frequently started out for a walk and 



STREETS. 41 

found myself, unaccountably, in the same place 
whence I started, three or four times, each time 
taking an apparently different route. This often 
happened until I became perfectly familiar with 
the twists and turnings in a few of the principal 
streets. There is not a particle of use in attempt- 
ing to find one's way by the names of streets. 
There are in a majority of streets different names 
for every two or three " turnings" (they do not 
say " squares ") Some streets that are passable 
at the beginning, will become in the eighth of 
a mile perfect alleys. But they are always crowd- 
ed — the people live in the streets. There is 
decidedly more truth than poetry in the remarks 
of a brawny Scotchman on his first visit " I'se 
ne'er see'd sic bonnie work in a' mi liefe, there's 
nae walking up the streets wieout bein' knocked 
doon, and nae walking doon the streets without 
bein' knocked up." 

I am thus lengthy about the streets because 
I always look particularly at them first. They 
possess a very peculiar and very expressive 
physiognomy. I can read from them the nature 
and ideas generally of the inhabitants. From the 
streets of London I judged the inhabitants to be 

4* 



42 APPEARANCE OF THE CITY. 

a matter-of-fact-generally, but-never-know-how-to- 
take-them always set of beings and eventually 
found I had judged just about right. The streets 
joined together would extend in a straight line 
over five thousand miles, or from London to New 
York and nearly half way back. A few of the 
main thoroughfares, running the length and 
breadth of the city are traversed by about six 
thousand cabs, five thousand five hundred omni- 
busses, with over sixty thousand horses, in exclu- 
sion of all kinds of private teams. 

The thickly portion of the city is egg-shaped. 
In length thirteen miles, in breadth about ten, 
and in circumference about thirty-five miles. 

Groldsmith in his " letters from a citizen of 
the world" " to his friends in the east" says in 
one of the letters of Lien Chi Altangi — 

" Judge then my disappointment on entering 
London to see no signs of that opulence so much 
talked of abroad ; wherever I turn I am pre- 
sented with a gloomy solemnity in the houses, 
streets and the inhabitants ; none of that beautiful 
gilding which makes a principal ornament in 
Chinese architecture. The streets of Nankin are 
sometimes strewed with goldleaf: very differ- 



SIDE-WALKS. 43 

ent are those of London ; in the midst of their 
pavements a great lazy puddle moves muddily 
along ; heavy laden machines with wheels of un- 
wieldy thickness crowd up every passage ; so that 
a stranger instead of finding time for observation 
is often happy if he has time to escape from being 
crushed to pieces." 

The side-walks are exceedingly low and very 
narrow. Oxford, Regent, Cannon and a few 
other streets are the only exceptions. I have 
frequently seen brewers' teams and others come 
within one foot of the store windows, and have 
been obliged to jump into a store door to escape 
being struck. To walk two or three abreast in 
the city is perfectly impossible. In very few 
streets is there any protection to the curb and 
consequently the hubs of the wheels, especially 
when passing other teams, extends several inches 
over the side-walk. 

London has frequently been visited by 
destructive fires. The greatest occurred in 1666, 
when acre after acre was laid waste and the 
entire city seemed doomed. This fire commenced 
about London Bridge, a magnificent monument 
described in another chapter, has been erected on 



44 FIRES. 

the spot. The great destruction was undoubtedly 
caused by the narrow streets and their irregularity. 
Sir Christopher Wren the distinguished designer 
a ad architect of the times, and by whom the 
present Cathedral of St. Paul was designed, pre- 
pared plans for the laying out and rebuilding of 
the burnt district in squares. This would have 
succeeded but the government could not purchase 
the ground, and learned men of the law presented 
the claims of their clients to the property. Their 
claims could not be opposed, and the consequence 
is that London of 1859 is exactly the same as 
London of 1666, or to go farther than that, it is the 
same now that it was two thousand years ago. 
And it is a fact, no less surprising than true, that 
the authorities of the city are contemplating 
improvements and advantages of civilized life 
that Rome and the cities of Greece had two thou- 
sand years ago, and that every town and village 
of importance in the United States has had for 
many years. The only redeeming qualities that 
the streets of London possess are the beautiful 
and permanent manner in which they are paved, 
and the comparative state of cleanliness in which 
they are kept. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HOUSES.— THEIR NUMBER AND VARIETY.— 

STORES.— AMERICAN STORES IN LONDON— 

PATENT-RIGHT LAWS. 

"The houses borrow very few ornaments from architecture; their chief 
decorations seems to be a paltry piece of painting hung out at their doors or 
windows, at once a proof of their indigence and vanity ; their vanity in each 
having one of those pictures exposed to view ; and their indigence in being 
unable to get them better painted. In this respect, the fancy of their paint* 
ers is also deplorable. Could you believe it ? I have seen five black lions 
and three blue boars in less than the circuit of half a mile ; and yet you know 
that animals of these colors are no where to be found, except in the wild 

imaginations of Europe." 

Goldsmith. 

The houses in number are about three hund- 
red thousand. The variety is almost as great as 
the number, for it is very difficult to find two 
alike, except in certain portions of the city where 
" rows," " terraces," and " places," are in fashion. 
They are built of brick of a bright-yellow color, 
and in some parts are very handsomely plastered 
in imitation of stone-work. Bituminous coal is 
used in London ; the houses consequently are al- 
ways black and appear uncomfortably dirty. 
There are some very costly houses of stone in tho 

" West End," but these are not remarkable for 

(45) 



46 houses- 

their architecture ; at least as far as the modern 
buildings are concerned. The only remarkable 
specimens of architecture are those erected many 
years ago. Indeed it seems as if the taste of 
modern English architects had degenerated. The 
houses generally are from three to five stories 
high, but very narrow, with no attention paid to 
shape, proportion, or regularity. Every inch of 
ground is built upon. The shape of the lot con- 
sequently determines the shape of the building. 
I have seen in one block, houses round, square, 
triangular, octagonal, parrallelogram, and some 
whose shape geometry does not and could not de- 
fine. There are seldom any yards to the houses, 
especially to the business houses and the centre 
of a lot is generally built up, having alleys for 
entrances. Many of the churches, theatres, con- 
cert halls and other public buildings are thus 
situated. The vast difference between the city of 
London, or in fact between all the towns of Eng- 
land that I visited, and those of the United States 
was simply that in England the houses are built 
and then the streets laid out so as to accommodate 
the builders. In the United States the streets 
are laid out and the builders must conform to the 



STORES. 47 

rules of the street commissioners. Another rea- 
son may be given for the general appearance of 
poverty in building — that is the difficulty of 
establishing a claim to property. Property in 
general has passed through so many generations ; 
now leased, anon mortgaged, then rented, perhaps 
sold " clear of all encumbrances," so that it is a 
very difficult matter to know certainly to whom a 
portion of property belongs. 

About the stores of London, there was one 
characteristic that struck me as being entirely 
John Bull; that was the tremendous windows, 
and the immense quanity of goods placed therein ; 
the exceedingly small stores and the emptiness 
of them. Take for instance the jewelry stores. 
Ninety-nine in every hundred possess windows 
from twelve to eighteen feet square, or else 
twenty feet long by ten deep. These windows 
are arranged with glass shelves upon which nine- 
tenths of the entire stock in trade is exposed. 
The interior of the store is often not more than 
twice the size of the window, and if not entirely 
empty contains one or two cases of fancy articles, 
and seats for customers to rest themselves while 
the clerk is engaged in removing from the win- 



48 AMERICAN INVENTIONS. 

dovv one half the stock to get at the required 
article. 

Among other stores those established by 
Americans seem to claim a great share of atten- 
tion, and certainly do a large business. Of these, 
Hobbs's is apparently ahead. John Bull opened 
his eyes with wonder, when Hobbs picked the 
greatest locks made in Great Britain, and which 
had been repeatedly tried by the most notorious 
burglars, but in vain. John was still more sur- 
prised when Hobbs produced his patent lock, 
called the parantoptic, and offered a thousand 
dollars to any one who would pick it. The pub- 
lic press called loudly for some public spirited 
burglar to step forth and redeem the honor of 
England, his country, by picking Hobbs's locks. 
The honor of the country has not yet been 
redeemed. 

Next to Hobbs's the American Invention 
Stores attract great attention. Wooden clocks 
wooden nutmegs, patent wash-tubs, singing tea- 
kettles and baby -jumpers, are more than the 
wildest imaginations of her Majesty's subjects 
ever dreamed. It is admitted by the English 
journals that Britain has derived greater advan- 



PATENT RIGHTS. 49 

tages from the fertility of Yankee brains in the 
last twenty years, than it has done from all other 
sources in almost as many centuries. 

One great reason of the success of American 
inventors is, that British inventors have but little 
encouragement from their own Government. 
There are two manv difficulties to be encountered 
by the inventor in securing to himself the benefits 
that should arise from his work. In cases where 
there are no disputants to his claim for patent 
rights, the cost for procuring such rights is about 
five hundred dollars. Then he must run the 
risk of Scotch and Irish inventors and copyists. 
For although these are all under one govern- 
ment, yet in some respects, especially as regards 
patents, England is as one country, or is rather 
as the entire government. If the claimant has 
opponents the cost is greater; and if he loses 
entirely he has still to pay the five hundred 
dollars. 

There are besides the stores enumerated, a 
large number of American stores and offices, and 
they are creditably successful, considering the 
competition, and the prejudices which the Lon- 

5 



50 AMERICAN ARTICLES. 

doners generally possess in favor of their own 
stores and rules of business. 

In the United States. I have frequently no- 
ticed on the store windows in every town and 
village that could boast a store, sentences similar 
to the following, " Dry Goods at Philadelphia 
Prices." " Latest Fashions just from London." 
" Broadway Bonnets," and many others of like 
character. In London wherever you turn, you 
behold emblazoned in letters a foot long, over the 
doors, down the sides of the windows, and on the 
glass, "American Shoes at American Prices." 
"Paris Fashions," "New York Hats," " Ameri- 
can Cough Candy," and every thing "American," 
that Londoners ever heard of, saw, or conceived, 
whether or not it was ever out of London. Some 
of the signs of these business places are amus- 
ingly inconsistent. For instance, every store has 
its name, — "The Lion House." Here you find 
a black lion. This is a dry goods store. At 
the perfumery store, a green bear is the guard- 
ian angel of the establishment. Here is a 
dry goods store, where the Queen's cook's, wait- 
ing boy's son, bought a quarter of a yard of cloth 
to patch his pantaloons-, and up goes a sign, 



THICKS OF TRADE. 51 

" Patronised by Her Majesty," and along with it 
the Royal Coat of Arms, a pink lion and blue 
unicorn, " fighting for the crown." Here is the 
" Emperor Napoleon's American Confectionary 
and English Mutton pie-shop." While next door 
at the beer-shop, as an inducement to enter, you 
perceive written on a shingle with red chalk a 
piece of remarkable intelligence — " The New 
York Herald," "A slate bagatelle table and a 
skittle ground taken in here." Enter, secondary 
motive, to take a glass of ale, but primary to 
have a look at the " Herald," and find something 
or somebody else " taken in." Get a glance at 
a copy three months old and find " there be some- 
think wrong with the mails, latest number be-int 
come yet." 

Many an hour that would otherwise have 
" dragged its weary length along," have I spent 
in observing the various tastes of London paint- 
ers, and then agreed with Goldsmith, that the 
majority of their representations have no exist- 
ence "except in the wild imaginations of the 
people of Europe." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE INHABITANTS.— QUEEN VICTORIA.— 

PRINCE ALBERT AND THE "FAMILY."— 

" COURT CIRCULAR."— EVER Y-D AY LIFE 

OF THE ARISTOCRACY. 

We learn from Genesis that in the Garden 
of Eden the Serpent helped Eve to the fruit of 
the Tree of Life without saying anything concern- 
ing it to Eve's lord and spouse, the unsuspecting 
Adam. The Serpent thus set an example which 
all the civilized portion of mankind has seen 
proper to follow. Ladies are universally first in 
everything. Following this universal law of 
female priority, instead of commencing this chapter 
with the lords of the English creation, allow me 
kind reader to introduce to your notice her Majesty 
Queen Victoria. Alexandrina Victoria — Queen 
of the United Kingdoms of Great Britian and 
Ireland — w T as the only daughter of Edward Duke 
of Kent, and was born May 24, 1819. 

On the death of her uncle William IV. 
(52) 



THE QUEEN. 53 

she succeeded to the throne. This was June 20, 
1837. 

It is needless, of course, to inform my reader 
that Queens and other specimens of royalty were 
babies. And consequently between May 24, 1819, 
and June 20, 1837, Alexandrina Victoria passed 
through three periods of Shakspeare's Seven Ages. 

u At first the infant, 
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms ; 
And then the whining school girl with her satchel, 
And shining morning face, creeping like snail 
Unwillingly to school ; And then the lover ! 
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to " her cousin Albert's moustache in embryo.'* 

During the days between the infant and the 
school girl several awful anecdotes of the going-to- 
be-Queen's perpetration were recorded and deemed 
sufficiently important to be chronicled among tho 
remarkable occurrences of the times. Strolling 
through the gardens of Wentworth House, the 
gardener cautioned her against walking in a certain 
place where he said " the ground was damp and 
slape." " Slape ! slape!" enquired she, " what is 
slape?" The gardener replied " very slippery." 
Victoria ran on, thought she knew about as much 

as the gardener, went just where he told her not to 

5* 



54 ANECDOTES. 

go, and tumbled down. Jumping up she exclaimed 
" JNTow I know what slape means.'' Now the 
majority of mothers would have whipped her for 
being disobedient and soiling her clothes, but she 
saved herself by committing said anecdote. She 
commenced taking lessons on the piano when very 
young and growing tired of it was informed that 
unless she persevered she could not become 
mistress of the instrument. " Oh ! " said she 
" I am to be mistress of my piano am I ? " 
" Undoubtedly !" was the reply. She was then 
informed that there was no royal road to music. 
She said she knew of a royal road, and how to 
become mistress at the same time. She then 
shut up and locked the piano, and placing the 
key in her pocket said, " That is the way to become 
mistress, and the royal road is never to take a 
lesson until I am in the humor." These anecdotes 
of a royal child might by the generally slow 
Londoners be considered awfully startling, but I 
have heard fast American babies blunder smarter 
things than these and not be half so obstinate. 
Under the domestic, yet unsurpassingly 
refined guardianship of her mother, the Duchess 
of Kent, Victoria really developed a naturally 



ROYAL FAMILY, 1857. 55 

strong mind and amiable disposition. Although 
" uneasy lies the head that wears a crown " yet 
"bright skies have continuously over-arched " her 
reign. Many great undertakings have been "be- 
gun, continued and ended" successfully under 
the management of Victoria. She is very do- 
mestic and thinks more of attending to her own 
family than she does of all England and its 
possessions. She was married to Francis Albert 
Augustus Charles Emanuel, Duke of Saxe, 
Prince of Saxe Cobourg and Grotha. He was 
her cousin. The marriage took place in Feb, 
1840. At this time from a statue in wax at 
Madame Tussand's, described more at length in 
another place, I should say she was exceedingly 
handsome. She now however reminds one of a 
Dutch doll; about as high when lying down as 
when standing up and is besides considerably 
wrinkled and faded. That she is really a good 
woman there can be no doubt^ She is now the 
happy mother of nine children. The oldest the 
Princess Royal is about to be married and that in 
style surpassing all the fairy tales of ancient times. 
For instance a part of the bridal dress, (the 
skirticoat, ) is to be entirely of lace. The number 



56 queen's duties, 

of these is to be almost infinite, for the Princess, 
as all are creditably informed, is not going to wear 
hoops but is nevertheless to expand herself to 
modern fashionable dimensions. Roses, shamrocks 
and thistles, the emblems of England, Ireland and 
Scotland are to be worked in these skirticoats. 
All the girls in a large village in France are 
engaged in the mammoth undertaking. 

The Prince of Wales, the heir apparent, is 
next. Then comes the remaining seven whose 
names I do not give, because like all royal names 
a half dozen of them would fill a small sized book. 

The annual salary of the Queen, including 
those of her children (she gets annually so much 
for every child) amounts to something over eight 
hundred thousand dollars. Her duties consist in 
letting parliament know exactly what she would 
like ; in being present at all the great grand balls, 
parties, concerts and dejeuners that take place in 
the kingdom : ai^d once a year or at every session 
of parliament in writing a kind of school girl 
composition and sending it to parliament where 
it is read by the Lord Chancellor. The last 
" Queen's Speech " and Mr. Buchanan's inaugural 
made their appearance in the English journals 



COURT CIRCULAR. 57 

about the same time. The editors almost univer- 
sally declared the Queen's speech a nullity, consign- 
ed it to blazes, and complimented the United States 
on the manner in which state affairs are made 
public and on their condition and prospects. 
Another duty of the Queen is to do something 
every clay of which an account will appear the 
next day in every paper in the Kingdom under the 
caption •" Court Circular. " Court Circular reads 
somehow like the following : " Her Majesty yester- 
day afternoon, accompanied by His Royal High- ■ 
ness Prince Albert, and their Royal Highnesses 
the Princess Royal and the Prince of Wales took 
a ride in an open barouch and four in the Park." 
" Her Serene Highness " perfectly-incomprehen- 
sible-and-not-to-be-pronounced-name " from Ger- 
many, and the Right Honorable, the very Reverend 
Dean of Windsor, had the distinguished honor of 
dining with her majesty." 

" In the evening their Royal Highnesses, the 
Princesses Helena Augusta Victoria," (aged 10) 
" and Louisa Carolina Alberta," (aged 8) " hon- 
ored Her Majesty's Theatre with their royal pre- 
sence, accompanied by His Royal Highness Ar- 
thur Patrick William Albert," (aged 7). 



58 PRINCE ALBERT. 

Occasionally a short but rather exciting no- 
tice comes in the Court Circular. Another prince 
or princess is born, to render its parents happy 
and cause the people to look blue at the additional 
taxes. All the church bells are set to ringing, 
and the great guns at the Tower are fired, to re- 
mind the people of the necessity of practising 
economy in their domestic affairs. 

Prince Albert is next in importance. Pie is 
a tall proportionally stout man ; not at all bad 
looking, and in heart a good man, although his 
head occasionally leads him into places and cir- 
cumstances where the Queen and others say it 
should not. He holds several very important 
offices under the government. His principal 
duty is to protect, love, accompany at all times, 
honor and obey his better half. His salary 
amounts nearly to a quarter of a million of dol- 
lars. Notwithstanding the large amount received 
by the royal pair, the royal family is poor! 
much poorer than the majority of the nobility of 
Great Britain. This is caused by the tremendous 
household which the family is obliged to keep 
constantly around it. 

The children, of whom I have seen seven 



THE QUEEN. 59 

are not at all remarkable either for looks, man- 
ners or dress. They are brought up by the 
Queen in the same plain manner in which she 
lives. I mean, of course, plain for royalty, and 
in comparison with the major part of the nobility 
of the country. Many anecdotes are recorded of 
the Queen's plainness of dress. At the opening 
of the Crystal Palace she was admiring a piece 
of machinery and requested the man in attend- 
ance, to explain a certain portion of it. The 
man, who had been talking and operating all 
day, exclaimed, " Oh ! I can't be talking this 
over all the time to every one that comes along." 
11 1 am sorry," replied the Queen , " that I asked 
you, never mind if it is any trouble," and away 
she glided down the avenue. A gentleman 
stepped up to the machinist, and asked him if he 
knew who the person was to whom he had spoken 
so sharply, "No," replied he. "Well," said 
the gentleman, " that was her Majesty Queen 
Victoria !" It is said that the machinist was not 
seen in the palace the remainder of the day. 

I know of nothing that affords more inter- 
esting amusement, and of nothing that tends 
more to disgust sensible humanity with man, than 



60 AEISTOCRACY. 

watching the every-day life of the London Aris- 
tocracy. To go to bed when dawn is breaking, 
and when the laws of nature say that man should 
rise ; to rise when the day is half gone ; to be 
seen in their coaches at a certain hour, wending 
their way to some fashionable ride where is the 
point of attraction for greetings from, friends, 
(aristocratic friends and acquaintances,) from a 
shake of the hand affectedly warm, the haughty 
bend, the familiar nod of arrogance, or the pro- 
longed smile of contempt to the exceedingly hum- 
ble bow of servility ; to dine when others are at 
supper ; to spend the night in attendance at the 
opera, the Ball Masque, or the Soiree ; this con- 
stitutes the every-day life variegated only by 
Sunday. Here persons with titles and without 
money assume the consequential air of dignity 
that pertains to the truly independent. Here the 
truly independent think, speak and sometimes 
act like men that would be measured by their 
souls, but even these are few. Here everv thin or 
seen or heard speaks of opulence when but a 
slight examination would prove undeniably that 
"all is not gold that glitters." Few of this class 
live in themselves— and many out of self — en- 



PUBLIC DEBT. Gl 

cleavoring to be what they are not — bending in 
servility to the opinions of some thay desire to 
imitate, but without their samplers, means or 
minds. But if this is their butterfly state of ex- 
istence, it may be asked on what flowers they 
feed? 

Ask the laborer, the man of family who rises 
with the lark and toils hard and late. He will 
tell a story of the tax he paid on salt for his po- 
tatoes ; of the extra price of bread ; he will point 
to the windows and counting the panes of glass 
will tell of the tax on each ; he keeps a donkey 
with which to haul coal or goods for the neigh- 
bors between times a tax on that, and a tax to 
pay for every street through which it passes. 
The clerks and store girls can tell of a large per- 
centage, deducted by law from their salaries to 
pay the expenses of war. The politicians can 
then speak in defence of such laws by saying the 
public debt is nearly six billions of dollars. The 
annual interest of this must be raised ! But 
the principal is increased by borrowing often 
eighty millions of dollars [$80,000,000, borrowed 
from Baron Rothchild in 1856,] at one time where- 

6 



62 TAXES. 

with to pay the interest and to meet other expenses 
— otherwise — to support the poor nobility. The 
poor man can, and does too, speak of the great 
wedding. Two hundred thousand dollars dowry ! 
and forty thousand dollars a year for life to sup- 
port her who will sometime be the Queen of 
Prussia, and may, as Prussia often does, quarrel 
with England, and thus England support a war 
against herself. But concerning one child they 
do not complain, eight, and Heaven knows how 
many more are to follow ! all must be supported, 
and properly cared for, and the laborer must sup- 
ply the means. 

This is free and enlightened England ! Eng- 
land, where African Slavery is considered the 
great moral curse of mankind ; where " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," is read more and revered not quite 
as much as is the Bible ; and where its authoress 
has been canonized. 



CHAPTER IV. 

INHABITANTS CONTINUED. — THE MIDDLE 
CLASS.— GENERAL IGNORANCE.— GULLABILITY. 
DRESS.— UNIFORMS.— TEACHERS.— BEAUTY AND 
HEALTH OF THE LADIES. -LOWER CLASSES.— 
PROSTITUTION. — HUMANE SOCIETIES. — THE 
WORKHOUSE. 

The middle class of society, that class which 
the Aristocracy has endeavored to annihilate, is 
the strength, the vital power of the entire 
country. This once out of the way, the power of 
the nobility, as in many parts of Europe, becomes 
absolute. From this class came the early set- 
tlers of our own country. Although our fore- 
fathers were thus sprung, yet their government, 
instead of providing a popular education as an 
additional security to the government as ours has 
done, has neglected everything of the kind, and 
the class has degenerated alike in intel- 
lect and refinement, and is sadly inferior in 

many respects to our own general order of Amer 

(G3) 



64 IGNORANCE. 

ican society. This inferiority is no where more 
visible than it is as regards intellect and liber- 
ality of opinions. Lamenting the change which 
had taken place even in his time. Pope says, 



' Time was, a sober Englishman would knock 
His servant up and rise by five o'clock ; 
Instruct his family in every rule, 
And send his wife to church, his son to school ; 
To worship like his fathers, was his care, 
To teach their frugal virtues to his heir; 
To prove that luxury could never hold, 
And place on good security his gold. 
Now, times are changed !" 



But ignorance is not the only bad feature of 
English society in general. It is exceedingly 
proud. In America a very haughty person shows 
nothing but his own littleness of soul. In Eng- 
land, the contrary is taught and practised. To 
the rich and noble condescension is preached from 
the pulpit ; taught in the Bible class, taught in 
the schools, and forms an important part of every 
speech and lecture. To the poor, " the lower 
class" is taught and preached humility, patience 
and servility. Pride and ignorance are insepara- 
ble companions. The young men of London in 
general imagine that it is only necessary to know 
how to read and write, and then read the local 



COCKNEYISM. 65 

items in a newspaper, in order to be perfectly- 
conversant upon any subject upon which a con- 
versation may turn. To express an idea of any- 
thing out of London, would to five in every six, 
be a matter of perfect impossibility. I have con- 
versed with some who seemed very intelligent, 
but who were struck with utter amazement, and 
set me down as an. escaped lunatic, when I told 
them of cities, towns, and villages in the United 
States, better lighted with gas, and better sup- 
plied with water, and possessing finer houses and 
more costly stores than London. New York is 
about the only American city much heard of, and 
every place out of New York, is imagined to be 
situated in boundless forests. I have frequently 
been asked if the Indians did not attack us in our 
houses ! And if we did not always carry bowie 
knives and revolvers for self defence against 
beasts of prey? Many reasons may be given for 
their general ignorance of every thing foreign. 
One is, those of them who do travel, go only to 
the Continent — France and Italy are the places 
of resort. And for the opinions of rowdyism 
which they entertain of us, we cannot much 
wonder. They see only a blunt rough set of 



66 IDEAS ABOUT AMERICA. 

Americanized-foreign Captains and seamen, whose 
ships are constantly lying in the docks in and 
around London. 

As their ideas are small of everything 
out of London so are they proportionally great 
of every thing in London. For instance the 
river Thames to them is a mighty stream that 
has no equal in the world, The following anec- 
dote I have heard related as really a fact. Dr. 
Breckenridge was in a stage coach not far from 
London, and one of his travelling companions 
happened to be a Cockney. The Dr. says, " He 
was a gentleman-like, and well informed English- 
man who having found I was an American, after 
dilating on the greatness, the beauties, the majesty 
in short of this noblest of British rivers (the 
Thames) concluded : — 

" Sir it may seem almost incredible to you 
but nevertheless true, that this prodigious stream 
is from its mouth to its source, not much, if at all, 
short of one hundred and fifty miles long. " 

I looked steadfastly in his face to see if he 
jested ; but the gravity of deep conviction was 
upon it. Indeed John Bull never jests. After 
composing myself a moment I slowly responded — 



JOHN BULL STARES! G7 

" Perhaps sir, you never heard of the Ohio 
river? " 

" I think I have." 

" Perhaps of the Missouri ? " 

" I think so, though not sure." 

" Certainly of the Mississippi ? " 

" Oh ! yes, yes." 

11 Well, sir, a man will descend the Ohio, in 
a steamboat of the largest class, a thousand miles." 

" Of what sir ! — how many sir ? " 

" A thousand miles ; and there he will meet 
another steamboat of the same class, which has 
come in an opposite direction twelve hundred 
miles down the Missouri, and then, after going 
down the Mississippi fifteen hundred miles more, 
he may see that flood of waters disembogue itself 
by fifty channels into the sea." 

I had made up my mind to be considered a 
cheat, so I went calmly and emphatically through 
the statement. As I progressed my companion 
seemed somewhat disposed to take my story as a 
personal affront ; but at its close, he let down his 
visage into a contemptuous pout, and regularly 
cut my acquaintance." 

In his "Windsor Forest" Pope must also 



68 GULLABILITY. 

have been possessed with similar ideas of the 
greatness of the Thames : — 

" Thou too great father of the British floods ! 
With joyful pride survey'st our lofty woods ; 
Where towering oaks their growing honors rear, 
And future navies on thy shores appear. 
Not Neptune's self from all his streams receives 
A wealthier tribute than to thine he gives. 
No seas so rich, so gay no banks appear, 
No lake so gentle, and no spring so clear." 

Their ignorance or rather as Americans 
would say their old fogyish ideas in general renders 
them rather a gullable race. Any idea however 
absurd will readily find numerous supporters. 
This has been so for a long time. A beautiful 
monument of this fact stands at present in a very 
public part of the city. The South Sea House. 
This is a fine building standing at the corner of 
Threadneedle street but a short distance from the 
Bank of England. The South Sea Company was 
established for the purpose of exclusive trade to 
the South Seas. Grand inducements of becoming 
wealthy were held out by the company. The 
magnificence of fairy tales would be insignificant 
to the vast amount of gold and diamonds that 
all and each connected with the S. S. Co., would 
possess. Thousands of the poor, ever on the look 



EXCEEDINGLY COOL ! 69 

out to invest their little savings, invested all in 
the South Sea enterprise. The bubble bursted — 
they were ruined — and the managers retired with 
immense fortunes that came from anywhere rather 
than from the South Seas. 

At another time, a man advertised that in a 
certain evening in the Hay-Market Theatre, he 
would literally and bona fide creep into a quart 
bottle, and would, when in the inside, entertain 
the audience with a solo on the violin. Long be- 
fore the time appointed, every nook and corner 
of the house was crowded. A long time elapsed, 
the people grew impatient and called loudly 
for the performer. He made his appearance, and 
was tremendously applauded. The house grew 
perfectly quiet, expectation was on tip-toe, the 
operator quietly advanced to the front of the 
stage, and then coolly stated that he had been 
unable to find a quart bottle conveniently large, 
but would, on the next evening, at the same time 
and place, creep into a pint bottle, to compensate 
them for their great disappointment ! The audi- 
ence rose en masse, the performer had the money 
in his pocket, a side window was at hand, he 
jumped, carrying away glass and sash, and was 



70 COMET EXCITEMENT, 

clear before any of the assembly could get out of 
the building. 

The great comet that was going to come last 
year, was the cause of a tremendous gull. Ex- 
citement ran high. Authors wrote, and booksel- 
lers published and sold more works on comets in 
a day, than is generally done in twenty years* 
Preachers, preached about nothing but the ap* 
proaching awful collision between the comet and 
the earth, and of the immediate necessity of 
" setting their house in order." Street preachers 
talked of the necessity of purchasing white gowns 
at the linen drapers, and how requisite it was to 
find an open situation, where the ascent would be 
unimpeded. A travelling astronomer, advertised 
the largest telescope in London would be sta- 
tioned at a certain place, for the accommodation 
of all who wanted to learn the exact moment of 
the collision, to make their examinations, for the 
low price of " two-pence." Many gowns were 
procured, many sites of ascent picked out, much 
property sold, and the money received therefor, 
"lent, to the Lord," — and many from the country, 
" cum up to Lunnen," to join the brethren, think- 
ing it would be all the better to have comjDany 



FASHION. 71 

during the " wreck of matter and the crush of 
worlds." But the day prophesied turned out 
very disagreeable ; the collision was postponed on 
account of the weather, and some how or other, has 
not yet taken place. The booksellers and print- 
ers made money, the linen drapers made money, 
the telescope man made money, (that telescope 
was made of old chimney-pipe wrapped with 
fancy paper, smoked glass at the end of sight, 
nothing at the upper end, and a burning candle 
in the middle, which seen through the smoked 
glass looked enough like a comet to those who 
had never seen one, to be perfectly awful) and 
the Railroad companies made money, — so all par* 
ties concerned were satisfied, save and except 
only the gulled. 

Americans, from the great number of news- 
paper articles that appear daily, imagine that 
London next to Paris, is a great centre of fashion, 
and whatever Londoners wear must of necessity 
be perfect. The reverse however is the case. As 
far as the men are concerned, they do not in gene- 
ral dress even with neatness. All the colors of 
the rainbow, and abundance of jewelry, whether 
gold or good brass is immaterial, are worn by the 



72 SERVANTS. 

majority. In this particular, their general tone 
of matter of fact disappears, although they are 
not as gay in their attire as some other of the 
European people. The great number of men in 
uniform, I met with claimed particular attention. 
Male servants of the house all wear black pants, 
a black or white waistcoat, black dress coat, and 
white cravat. Some of them, especially in aris- 
tocratic families powder the hair, or wear grey 
wigs with long cues. This renders them rather 
a reverend looking set of men. Before I under- 
stood exactly their duties, I thought what pat- 
terns of Christianity I was sojourning with, 
where almost every family kept a chaplain. I 
came near getting into difficulty several times by 
mistaking good looking servants for ministers of 
the gospel, and bad looking ministers of the 
gospel for servants. 

The coachmen wear knee-breeches, white 
stockings, blue, green, black, brown and every 
other color of coat, trimmed off with gilt buttons, 
gilt lace, cords, tassels, and always powdered 
wigs, powdered eyebrows, and powdered whisk- 
ers, when they can cultivate them, but, which, 
owing to juvenility, is very often not the case. 



UNIFORMS. 73 

The footman, whose place is always behind the 
coach, on a seat or standing, there erected for 
him, is the exact shadow of the coachman belong- 
ing to the same equipage. Judges, barristers and 
others employed in the Courts must wear the uni- 
versal white wig and black gown. The letter 
carriers or " postmen," (no one has a private 
box — all letters are carried out, and the carriers 
paid by the government,) all have scarlet coats, 
black pants with red stripe, and are in everything 
perfectly systematic. The houses of London are 
supplied with knockers, and very few with bells. 
The postman comes only with two loud and sharp 
knocks. The newsman knocks only once, and 
very loud. Servants knock once and quite low. 
Visitors three or four times in rapid succession. 
The police and duns are allowed to knock in any 
manner at all that will secure admission. 

Each school has its uniform. " The Blue 
Coat school." This is a very ancient school, and 
takes its name from the blue, coarse cloth coat or 
gown w r hich the scholars must all wear. Neither 
must any one connected with the establishment 
wear any kind of covering on the head, They 
also wear knee breeches and yellow stockings. 

7 



J 



74 SHOE-BLACK SCHOOL. 

This is considered the best school in Great 
Britain, and requires the influence of the greatest 
men in the country, to secure admission. The 
uniform of the girls' school, is a blue frock, white 
apron, and white cap. The ragged school, or 
shoe-black school, for its uniform has red-flannel 
shirt, and knee breeches of blue. The members 
of this school are only the shoe-blacks of the 
city. The regular price for blacking boots is a 
penny. The boys take a regular stand at certain 
places in every street, and remain there until re- 
lieved by another set. Those relieved, return to 
school. The amount realized by the boys is di- 
vided. The boy keeps one-half of his own earn- 
ings, the remainder goes to his credit in the books 
of the school, and when he arrives at a certain 
age, he is put to some trade and the money 
returned to him. The education received at these 
schools is not of much account. The system of 
teaching is bad. We cannot wonder at the state 
of education, when w r e consider the position in 
society which teachers occupy, not only as regards 
public teachers, but also private governesses. The 
Quarterly Review, some time ago, contained an 
article on governesses^ w r hich shows so exactly 



GOVERNESSES. 75 

their position, that I will quote a few disconnected 
sentences. 

" The line which severs a governess from her 
employers is not one which will take care of itself, 
as in the case of a servant. If she sits at table she 
does not shock you — if she opens her mouth she 
does not distress you— her appearance and man- 
ners are likely to be as good as your own — her 
education rather better : — there is nothing upon the 
face of the thing to stamp her as having been 
called to a different state of life from that which it 
has pleased God to place you, and therefore the 
distinction has to be kept up by a fictitious bar- 
rier " ******** 

" She must to all intents and purposes live 
alone, or she transgresses that invisible but rigid 
line which alone establishes the distance between 
herself and her employers." ****** 

" We must ever keep them in a sort of isola- 
tion, for it is the only means for maintaining that 
distance which the reserve of English manners, 
and the decorum of English families exact." 

An article appeared in the London Times, 
about August last, complaining of the want of 
governesses* Some time afterwards it was replied 



76 AMERICAN LADIES. 

to by a " Lady of Philadelphia," who stated the 
existence of a great number of young ladies in 
Philadelphia who possessed good education and 
who would be glad of employment even in London. 
She recommended American governesses to go, 
and concluded by giving her address and stating 
that she would be happy to have those ladies call 
on her or something to that effect. A number of 
governesses, born and educated in England, have 
within a few months past committed suicide, from 
injured feelings and want of employment. If 
this is the effect of position on ladies accustomed 
to the distinctions of English society, how would 
it be with American ladies who feel, and who of 
right ought to feel, themselves equal to all man- 
kind. American ladies could better show the 
depth of their mental endowment by remaining 
at home ; or rather than commit suicide abroad 
and be buried without service, like a dog at night, 
commit suicide at home and be buried in a chris- 
tianlike manner. 

As for the ladies of London, or rather of 
England, they are in personal appearance by 
no means as good looking as the ladies of America* 
This is admitted willingly by English writers 



ENGLISH BEAUTIES. 77 

and travellers. I believe I am able to judge, for 
I have seen large numbers of American ladies 
and as many as twenty thousand at one time of 
the English. The general characteristics of Eng- 
lish beauty are dark complexion, dark hair, dark 
eyes and very rosy cheeks. This seems to con- 
tradict historians in their account of the earlier 
settlers of Great Britain. The Celts, Saxons, 
Angles and Danes all possessed light complexions, 
blue eyes, and red or very light hair. There is 
in England no strong southern sun that could in 
the course of centuries darken their natural com- 
plexion and I have met with no account that 
explains or attempts to explain the contradiction. 
As far as the appearance of health is concerned 
the preference must be given for the English. 
Of this they are trained from babyhood to take 
care. Girls there are not women when they arrive 
at twelve or thirteen. They think, dress, and act 
like girls. Stays, corsets, and other means of 
torture form no part of a girl's wardrobe. Out 
door exercises of all kinds are engaged in with 
spirit, and the advantages reaped from them are 
incalculable. 

The ladies do not dress for the street with 



78 LOWER CLASSES. 

one fourth part the elegance they do for home, 
theatre, opera or parties. In this respect they 
contrast strongly with the ladies of America who in 
general believe in great show on the public 
promenades. I know of nothing with which I 
was so much pleased as the promenade dresses of 
the English. After being for years accustomed 
to see long dragging skirts in all weathers, rainy 
or dusty, at home in the "States," the London 
ladies looked perfectly charming in their thick 
soled long boots, short and beautiful scarlet pet- 
ticoats, neatly looped up dresses, comfortable 
looking little bonnets and rosy living linings in 
the same. And, (I say blushingly) such mis- 
tresses of skirts as are the English ladies, and 
with such grace as skirts are handled by them, I 
did not see an article of female, white apparel, 
during my whole stay in London, that betrayed 
a spot of mud however stormy it might have 
been. 

Of the lower classes of London society, it 
would be a matter of impossibility to give a de- 
scription. They form the largest portion of the 
inhabitants, and with accurate accounts of them, 
many volumes might be filled. There is one 



TEMPTATIONS. 79 

class however, on which it is necessary to say a 
little, inasmuch, as it is connected with every 
every other class, and is as much an institution 
of London, as slavery is of the Southern States, 
or as free labor is of the Northern. This class 
attracts as much of the attention of the London 
legislators and the public press, as does slavery 
in the States, and should I omit it, the omission 
would be considered too great by any who know 
anything of London. I allude to courtezans. It 
is said, that these form about one-fortieth part of 
the entire population, or, are in number about 
fifty-five thousand. Many reasons are given why 
this class is so large, but there can be no doubt 
that the chief reason is, the general state of 
poverty among the lower classes, caused in a great 
measure by the wholesale system of taxation. 
The children of the poor, almost as soon as they 
can walk or talk, are sent to the workhouse. For 
girls, these are the primary schools for prosti- 
tution. The large number constantly leaving the 
workhouse for service, renders work scarce, and 
the number of the unemployed great. Thus, of 
necessity, they become vicious. There is not a 
particle of doubt, but that stern necessity makes 



80 SAD STATISTICS. 

more persons wicked, than does the love of ini- 
quity. On the countenance of these girls, nothing 
but joy and animation can be seen, while the very 
vulture of misery is gnawing — hour after hour — 
day after day — at their hearts. Originally se- 
duced from a state of innocence, and then aband- 
oned by every one w r ho held them in any degree 
of estimation, they are left upon the w r orld, and 
have no alternative but to go on in the way they 
have commenced. They are then exposed to in- 
sult without the means of redress, imposed upon 
by the police, must stand all kinds of weather, 
often without a friend in misery, or a place to 
call home. Fifty-five thousand such creatures 
roam the streets of London, No wonder that the 
journals teem with cases of suicides. Of these, 
fifty-five thousand nine-tenths die prematurely 
of disease and in misery, having lived lives of 
almost unimaginable hardships, and having, during 
those lives corrupted twice, or thrice nearly, their 
number of young girls — to say nothing of the 
ruin showered upon strong masculine constitu- 
tions. In a police report, I recently noticed a 
return of four parishes, containing in all, about 
12,900 houses, and 70,000 inhabitants. Of the 



SOCIETIES. 81 

houses, 510 were of ill-fame, and of the inhabi- 
tants about 4,000 were prostitutes. 

Humane societies are established in all parte 
of the city. One places life buoys, drags and 
ropes on all the piers, bridges, docks, and where- 
ever the water is a few feet deep, so that in case 
some poor soul " weary of so long life" in misery, 
concludes to end it not with " a bare bodkin," 
but by a plunge she can be rescued, provided 
some one sees her, and the cold water has cooled 
her ardor. So many persons have jumped from 
London Bridge, that it has become a bye-word. 
If a person says he is going to London Bridge, 
he is looked at immediately, to see if there is any 
sign apparent of " temporary insanity." 

Another, Humane society sends thousands of 
dollars annually to civilize the inhabitants of a 
country thousands of miles away, who never 
heard of civilization and the Gospel, and are 
therefore, not as responsible as those who have, 
but the same society utterly neglects the misery, 
destitution and heathenism of their own countrv- 
men in the next street. 

Another, at the present time, is endeavoring . 
to annihilate capital punishment. And still another 



82 KEFLECTIONS. 

is establishing a reformatory for the courtezans 
whom the injustice of legislators creates. This 
one sends clergymen into the lobbies of the The- 
atres, into the dancing cribs and concert-halls to 
reclaim girls, and to render them good wives for 
honest men. A large home is provided, and kept 
in grand style. The girl who previously would 
have hesitated before casting herself upon the 
smiles of a by-no-means-generous public, now 
launches fearlessly away. Her after life, when 
beauty and the charms that please are faded, is 
now of no consideration. This humane society 
says, " go-a-head," and when that time comes, 
if come it will, why, you have only to come here, 
we will give you a home, and will endeavor to 
reform you. The society thus cuts off the 
branches of the great tree of misery — but leaves 
the root (taxation) and, like trimming trees, each 
branch cut off, but grows out the stronger. 

The wealth of England, and her so-called 
exhaustless resources, are the boast of every 
Englishman on the face of the earth, yet, no 
country in the world has so much poverty — starv- 
ing, suffering humanity as has this same Eng- 
land. But is there no relief? Yes — a glorious 



WORKHOUSES. 83 

relief — the Workhouse ! An institution to which 
honest poverty is consigned — hand-in-hand with 
the vagrant — drunkard — thief — prostitute — and 
every one else whom the jails may be too full to 
hold. Here, poor corrupted girls and unmarried 
women resort until delivered of their dearly-pur- 
chased fruits of sin! while here dwell poor or- 
phans and homeless children, until of age to 
be apprenticed: here is the asylum of idiots, 
madmen, blind, lame, and diseased : and here 
lives natural and premature old age, " only wait- 
ing" until called from this state of utter hopeless- 
ness — from this hell — either to a land of happiness, 
or, as in the majority of cases, to a hell, that to 
human calculation, could not be much worse. 

Notwithstanding all this, the overseership 
of the workhouse is a matter of terrible compe- 
tition. In the majority of cases, the successful 
candidate is a man of "naturally sour disposition. 
Thus children placed under his care grow up to 
twelve, fourteen, and sixteen years of age, without 
ever in their lives having heard one kind word — 
without affection — without being loved, and in 
their turn loving no one ! 



CHAPTER V. 

WESTMINSTER ABBEY.— " POETS' CORNER." 

HISTORY.— CHAPEL OP HENRY VII LEGENDS 

IN STONE.— THE MONUMENTS. 

" Hail ! venerable pile ! with awe I tread 
The sacred mansions of th' illustrious dead ! 
Where rise, o'er forms now mouldering into dust ! 
The ' storied urn ' and ' animated bust ; '— 
Beneath the fretted dome, aspiring high, 
Here monachs, heroes, poets, sages, lie ! 
1 Deaf the praised ear, and mute the tuneful tongue. * 
Here sleeps the bard with those whom erst he sung ; 
And all consigned to one impartial doom, 
Lo ! kings and subjects levelled in the tomb !" 

It was towards the close of one of the finest 
days in summer, that alone, I commenced the 
solemn yet pleasing task of a systematic stroll 
through this burial place of kings, heroes, and 
poets. 

I entered at " Poets' Corner," and then sat 
for awhile at the foot of a massive column, in 
order to recall the little I could of what I had 
heard and read concerning the " venerable pile' 7 
that surrounded me. 

(84) 



ilif "lllilll 




WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 87 

Although founded later in the history of the 
country than was the city, yet its origin seems 
more obscure. There is a legend still in existence, 
which I find has some believers, that says 
Sebert, King of the East Saxons about 610, 
ordered Melitus, Bishop of London, after having 
built the Abbey, to perform the dedication cere- 
mony, but that St. Peter himself, came in the 
night preceding the day appointed by Sebert, ac- 
companied by legions of angels, and surrounded 
by a glorious appearance of burning lights, and 
dedicated the Abbey to himself. The Abbey is 
frequently called the Collegiate Church of St. 
Peter. Although this legend is of course fabu- 
lous, yet historians agree with it as far as the 
date is concerned. And to Sebert was ascribed 
the honor of superintending the work ; which 
was then only the part that now constitutes the 
East angle. Even this part, after the death of 
Sebert, was allowed to decay ; was pillaged, and 
looked like a vast ruin. Henry III., then took 
the matter in hand. He pulled down, built up, 
enlarged, and added a new chapel. Henry VII., 
also added a chapel. This was named after him, 



88 ITS HISTORY. 

and is now, externally at least, the finest portion 
of the entire building. 

Several fires and robberies occurred, and the 
Abbey was suffered to remain in a dilapidated 
condition, until a very recent period. Wow car- 
penters and masons have their shops in the cells, 
formerly the abodes of the monks, and are at all 
times ready to repel the assaults of the elements. 
The Abbey is in the form of a cross. " Poets' 
Corner," where I commenced observations, is the 
South-Eastern angle of the Cross. From this 
spot the general view of the interior is excellent, 
although, I afterwards found the best view to be 
from the West door, between the two front towers. 
Although in a thickly settled part of the West end 
of the city, little noise from the world without, enters 
here. Everything tends to fill the mind with 
awe. " The eye gazes with wonder at clustered 
columns of gigantic dimensions, with arches 
springing from them to such an amazing height ! 
and man wandering about their bases, shrunk 
into insignificance, in comparison with his own 
handiwork." 

The first object of interest that attracted my 
attention in Poets' Corner was a monument erected 



gakrick's monument. 89 

to the memory of G-arrick. "David Grarrick, 
who died in the year 1779 — at the age of sixty 

three.' ' The following is the inscription — 

« 

To paint fair Nature by Divine command, 

Her magic pencil in his glowing hand, 

A Shakspeare rose— then, to expand his fame 

Wide o'er this " breathing world " a Garrick came. 

Though sunk in death, the forms the Poet drew, 

The Actor's genius bade them breathe anew; 

Though, like the bard himself, in night they lay 

Immortal Garrick call'd them back to day : 

And till eternity, with power sublime 

Shall mark the mortal hour of hoary time, 

Shakspeare and Garrick, like twin stars shall shine 

And earth irradiate with a beam divine. 

Pratt. 

" This monument, the tribute of a friend, was 
erected in 1797." — Webber facit. The monument 
represents Garrick throwing aside a curtain, this 
reveals a medallion of Shakspeare, and is intended 
to represent G-arrick's power in developing the 
beauties of Shakspeare. 

Passing by many others, mostly of minor 
importance I came to the monument of Addison. 
This is a statue of himself, erected on a circular 
base, around which are figures of the Muses. 
The inscription is in Latin and has been thus ren- 
dered. " Whoever thou art, venerate the memory 
of Joseph Addison, in whom Christian faith, 

8* 



90 HANDEL. 

virtue, and good morals found a continual patron ; 
whose genius was shown in verse, and every ex- 
quisite kind of writing; who gave to posterity 
the best example of pure language, and the best 
rules for living well, which remain, and ever will 
remain sacred ; whose weight of argument was 
tempered with wit, and accurate judgment with 
politeness, so that he encouraged the good, and 
reformed the improvident, tamed the wicked and 
in some degree made them in love with virtue. 
He was born in the year 1672, and his fortune 
being increased gradually, arrived at length to 
public honors. Died in the 48th year of his age, 
the honor and delight of the British nation.'* 
This is only a monument to his memory ; his re- 
mains are interred near Henry VII. 's Chapel, in 
another part of the Abbey. 

The next monument is to the memory of one 
of the greatest musicians of the world — George 
Frederick Handel. This monument was the last 
piece of work of the celebrated Roubilliac. It is 
recorded as a singular fact that his first work and 
also his last was a statue of Handel. Here the 
left arm of Britain's great musician is resting on 
a collection of musical instruments, and he is 



SHAKSPEAKE. 91 

attentive to the music of an angel playing on a 
harj), in the clouds over his head. Before him 
lies the celebrated Messiah, opened at the air "I 
know that my Redeemer liveth." — Handel was 
born in 1684 and died in 1759. 

Again for want of time, leaving many monu- 
ments and tombs behind, I came at last to the 
monument of Shakspeare. The design as well 
as workmanship of this is very elegant. The 
figure of Shakspeare leaning on a pedestal, his 
very attitude and style of dress seeming to breathe 
of life cannot but arrest the attention of the most 
casual observer. The sculptor has also very aptly 
chosen for the open part of the scroll which he 
holds in his right hand a sentence of the great 
poet, from the " Tempest" 

"The cloud capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 
Yea, all which it inherits, shall dissolve, 
And like the baseless fabric of a vision 
Leave not a wreck behind.'* 

On the pedestal of the statue are the heads 
of the three principal characters represented in 
his plays. Henry V., Richard III., and Queen 
Elizabeth. This monument to his memory was 
erected one hundred and twenty five years after 



92 MONUMENTS. 

his death. His remains are interred in the Great 
Church at Stratford. 

In Poets' Corner are monuments to Ben 
Jonson, — Milton, — Campbell, the Author of " Plea- 
sures of Hope," — and many others which space 
forbids me mentioning. For this part of the 
Abbey no name could be more appropriate than 
that by which it is known. The monuments, as once 
was the dust they commemorate, are very plain, 
but are generally elegant from that plainness. 
The monuments of warriors, kings, and statesmen 
in other parts of the Abbey may be more mag- 
nificent, but one cannot look on and linger around 
these as he does in Poets' Corner. On almost 
every stone erected here we read the name of 
friend. Though dead they still live our friends 
through the living monuments handed down to 
us by them. From this spot I started direct for 
one of the seven wonders of the world ; — viz : — 
"The Chapel of Henry VII. This is said to be 
the best specimen of Gothic architecture in the 
world. The exterior is adorned with sixteen 
small towers, placed at different angles, and each 
tower richly ornamented by the sculptor. The 
Chapel is joined to the Abbey and cannot be en- 



CHAPEL OP HENRY VII. 93 

tered except by passing through it, although from 
the outside it appears separated. To enter the 
Chapel I left the Abbey by the East Gateway, and 
ascended a broad flight of marble stairs, under 
a magnificent portico, leading direct to the nave 
of the Chapel. The gates through which I passed 
to the nave are of solid brass, finely decorated 
with fluer-de-lis, port-cullis, crowns, entwined 
roses, and lions. In the body of the Chapel tho 
magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his Queen 
Elizabeth, attracts the attention. The tomb is en- 
closed in a heavy railing of brass, about six feet 
high and decorated similarly to the entrance gates. 
The marble base of the railing is decorated with 
statues only four of which are remaining : — St. 
George, — St. Bartholomew, — St. James, — and St. 
Edward. The tomb is of fine black marble, the 
head resting upon a dragon, and the foot upon an 
angel. The tomb is also ornamented with the 
twined roses, fluer-de-lis, port-cullis, and crowms. 
Other objects in bass relief tend to make the 
work complete. On the tomb, in repose — and 
plenty of dust — lie the effigies of the King and 
Queen in their state-robes. Next to the tomb the 
ceiling was most wonderful. This is entirely of 



94 ORDER OF THE BATH. 

stone, worked in wreaths, circles and all imagin- 
able shapes and objects. The floor is of marble, 
black and white. The Chapel was formerly occu- 
pied by the Most Honorable Order of the Bath. 
The pews in which they were wont to sit, are 
arranged in regular order around the walls. These 
pews are of very singular construction and would 
by no means be suitable for modern places of 
worship or modern worshippers. They are made 
very high and divided into seats, each seat large 
enough for only one person ; and so constructed 
that if a person goes to sleep, or in any manner 
whatever loses perfect control of the body, the 
seat slips down and the person is thrown over 
into the choir in front. Here the Members of 
the Order of the Bath were installed with great 
ceremony. On each pew is still to be seen a brass 
plate, containing respectively the arms of the 
members ; while high above these still wave the 
standards of the Knights as they did in the days 
of Henry VII. There are in this Chapel several 
other tombs of Kings and Queens, down to the 
time of George III., since which time Windsor 
has become the Royal Sepulchre. Near this spot 
two monuments attracted my attention. The first 



MONUMENTS. 95 

of these was a slab of marble, inlaid with solid 
brass letters, placed in front of a magnificent 
monument, the grandeur of which contrasts strongly 
with the other's plainess. This slab was placed 
here by the present Earl of Ellesmere, to mark 
the spot where rest the remains of 

Addison. 

Ne'er to the chambers, where the mighty rest. 
Since their foundation, came a nobler guest ; 
Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed 
A fairer spirit, or more welcome shade. 
Oh ! gone forever ! take this long adieu 
And sleep in peace, next thy lov'd Montague* 
Egerton. Earl of Ellesmere. Born 1672. Died, 1719. 

1849. Poole, mason. 

A monument, previously noticed, was erected 
to his memory in Poets' Corner. The other was 
a large block of marble, with a cherub on each 
end, and between them a double scroll. On this 
monument is the following inscription, translated 
from the Latin. 

" Here lie the relics of Edward V., King of 
England, and Richard, Duke of York, who, being 
confined in the Tower, and there stifled with 
pillows, were privately and meanly buried, by 
order of their perfidious uncle, Richard the 
usurper. Their bones long enquired after and 



96 VARIOUS CHAPELS. 

wished for, after lying one hundred and ninety- 
one years, in the rubbish of the Stairs, (i. e. those 
lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower,) 
were on the 17th of July, 1674, by undoubted 
proofs, discovered, being buried deep in that place. 
Charles II., pitying their unhappy fate, ordered 
these unfortunate princes to be laid among the 
relics of their predecessors, in the year 1678, and 
the thirtieth of his reign." 

Besides the Chapel of Henry VII. there are 
eight smaller Ghapels. called respectively, St. 
Benedict's, — St. Edmund's, — St. Nicholas', — St. 
Edward the Confessor's, — St. Paul's, — Islip's 
Chapel dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, — St. 
Erasmus', — and a Chapel dedicated to St. John, 
St. Michael, and St. Andrew. In St. Benedict's 
are the tombs of many distinguished persons of a 
very early date. The most important and in- 
teresting was the tomb of Sebert, King of the 
East Saxons, who is said to have been the founder 
of the Abbey. His Queen, Athelgoda, is also 
buried here. Over their tombs, is a curious piece 
of work, about eleven feet long and three feet 
high. It is made of wood and stone, elaborately 
finished. The centre piece contains a figure 



fe^lsfe.- mk \&*ir Mm 




interior View of Ilcnn Vil.'e L'h»|iOl. 



ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 99 

undoubtedly intended for Christ, holding the 
world, and angels with olive branches on each side. 
On the left is a figure of St. Peter. There are 
many other sculptured figures on it, but time has 
so defaced them that it is impossible to tell exactly 
what they were and consequently it is equally 
impossible to replace them. 

Leaving this chapel, and before entering St. 
Edmund's, my attention was drawn to a costly 
monument, entirely of mosaic work, erected to 
the memory of the children of Henry III., and 
Edward I. Like its cotemporaries, it solemnly, 
yet loudly declares that even marble must pass 
away, before the onward, and still onward march 
of time. " The fashion of this world passeth 
away." 

In the chapels of St. Edmund, and St. Nich- 
olas, are some fine mementoes of departed 
w r orth, but none, that I considered of especial 
interest. The chapel of St. Edward the Con- 
fessor, like that of Henry VII., possessed not 
only a beautiful style of architecture, but also 
every object which it contained, claimed par- 
ticular attention. The first object that meets the 
eye, is the shrine of St. Edward. This is said 



100 MONUMENTS. 

once to have been the glory of England. It has 
been literally picked to pieces by those who loved 
Edward so much that they would not allow him 
to keep over his ashes, even a respectable tomb- 
stone. Comparing its present appearance with 
the early accounts of it, it is very difficult to form 
an idea of the original splendor of the shrine ; 
and especially when the fact is taken into consid- 
eration, that the jewels alone with which it was 
decorated, were taken possession of by Henry 
III., and sold by him, for about thirteen thou- 
sand dollars. 

On the south of the Shrine, is interred Edith, 
daughter of Godwija, or Goodwyn, Earl of Kent, 
(formerly mentioned in connection with Goodwin 
Sands,) and who was also the Queen of St. Ed- 
ward. In addition to o-reat beautv and o-entle- 
ness, she is said to have possessed wonderful 
learning and skill in needlework. 

Her epitaph has been translated thus : — 

" Success ne'er sat exulting in her eye, 
Nor disappointment heaved the troubled sigh. 
Prosperity ne'er saddened o'er her brow, 
While glad in trouble, she enjoyed her woe; 
Beauty nor made her vain, nor sceptres proud, 
Nor titles taught to scorn the meaner crowd; 
Supreme humility was awful grace, 
And her chief charms a bashfulness of face." 



CORONATION CHAIRS. 101 

Near this is buried Queen Matilda, of whom 
it is recorded, that every day in Lent, she would 
walk from her palace to the Abbey, barefoot, 
wearing coarse hair clothing, washing and kissing 
the feet of poor people and bestowing alms. All 
the monuments in this chapel are exceedingly 
magnificent, and under them are entombed only 
the remains of Kings and Queens, awaiting with 
the unknown contents of unmarked graves, the 
dawn of the auspicious morning. 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 

Await alike the inevitable hour : 
The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

In addition to the monuments, the chapel 
contains various chairs, canopies, and other relics 
of former centuries. Two coronation chairs on 
the left as I entered, presented a very antique 
and singular appearance. The most ancient of 
the two encloses in the seat a stone about two 
feet long, two wide, and one thick. This stone 
by many, is believed to be the genuine Jacob's 
pillar. Of course, we enjoy the privilege of be- 
lieving as much of this as we desire; but one 
thing is certain, the stone was brought from Scot- 



102 SCULPTURES. 

Land, and offered to the shrine of St. Edward, by 
Edward I., in 1297. All the Sovereigns of Great 
Britain, from Edward I., down to Victoria, have 
been crowned in this chair. The chairs are of 
oak, very heavy, and in style gothic. The four 
legs rest upon gilded, couchant lions, resembling 
very much in style, but not material, the new 
Throne recently erected in the House of Lords. 
Some distance above the chairs are sculptures, 
representing scenes in the life of St. Edward. 
These, of course, are only legendary. The first, 
is the trial of Queen Emma ; the second, the 
birth of Edward ; the third, his coronation ; the 
fourth, shows how Edward was so frightened by 
seeing the devil dance upon the money casks that 
he abolished the Dane gelt. The fifth, represents 
him winking at the thief who was robbing him ; 
the sixth, represents the appearance of Christ to 
him ; the seventh, the frustration of an invasion 
of England, by the drowning of the Danish 
King ; the eighth, the quarrel between Totsi and 
Harold, predicting their respective fates ; the 
ninth, the Confessor's vision of the seven sleep- 
ers ; the tenth, the meeting with St. John the 
Evangelist, dressed as a pilgrim ; the eleventh, 



JAMES WATT. 103 

curing the blind ; the twelfth, St. John delivering 
a ring to the pilgrims ; the thirteenth, the pil- 
grims delivering the ring to the King, which the 
King had given St. John when he met him 
dressed as a pilgrim. This was attended with a 
message from St. John, foretelling the King's 
death. The last scene represents the haste which 
the King made to finish founding the chapel. 

The chapel of St. Paul, contains among 
others, a colossal monument to the memory of 
James Watt. He is seated on an oblong pedestal 
with a scroll in one hand and compasses in the 
other, forming a design. 

" Not to perpetuate a name which must en- 
dure while the peaceful arts flourish, but to show 
that mankind have learned to honor those that 
best deserve their gratitude, the King, his min- 
isters, and many of the nobles and commoners 
of the realm, raised this monument to James 
Watt, who, directing the force of an original 
genius, early exercised in philosophical research, 
to the improvement of the steam engine, en- 
larged the resources of his country, increased the 
power of man, and rose to an eminent place 
among the most illustrious followers of science 



104: MONUMENTS. 

and the real benefactors of the world. Born at 
Greenock, 1736. Died at Heathfield, Stafford- 
shire, 1819." 

The chapel of St. Erasmus, and that dedi- 
cated to St. John, St. Michael, and St. Andrew, 
contain nothing either very grand or interesting. 
The chapel of Islip, contains a very fine monu* 
ment of General Wolfe, killed at Quebec. In 
another part of the Abbey, is a dilapidated look- 
ing monument erected to the memory of Major 
Andre. The sentence on the monument, relates 
the story of his being hung by Washington as a 
spy. It is said, that this monument had not been 
erected one month, when some British soldier in 
retaliation for Andre's hanging, knocked off the 
marble head of Washington — a statue of whom 
with Andre, was on the monument — some demo- 
cratic spirit then knocked off Andre's marble 
head. Leaving the chapels, I entered the North 
Transept, surrounded on all sides with monu- 
ments to the good and great. Pitt, Londenderry, 
Canning, Fox, Grattan, Wilberforce, Newton, 
and many others are interred here. 

" Life is a frost of cold folicitie, 
And death, ye thaw of all our vanitie," 



SUNSET. 105 

Now "bright and red the evening sun was 
setting," and with a melancholy feeling of rever- 
ence for the place, I left its grandeur to stroll 
through the low-arched, dim, dark cloisters with- 
out. Here once dwelt, shut out from all the 
troublesome cares and alluring pleasures of life, 
a race of monks. Everywhere around are seen 
their humble tombstones. The walls around are 
damp, hung with moss and wild flowers, and 
slow, silently, indiscernibly, as time steals on, are 
falling away. The finely chiseled stone that once 
might have seemed touched with fairy hand, now 
presents a rounded, worn away front. The old 
Abbey clock, tolled out the hour for departure, 
and alone as when I entered, though many have 
passed through, I left the vast monument of other 
days and other men. Frequently afterwards, did 
I attend service here, and frequently have I 
sought out its most inmost recesses, and there 
with a pleasure indescribable, endeavored to trace 
human life through the vast desert of its infir- 
mities and misfortunes. Centuries have passed, 
millions have indulged in the same reveries, in 
the same parts of the Abbey — some of those mil- 
lions lie buried around — some in one quarter of 



106 REFLECTIONS. 

the globe, some in another — centuries will pass 
and untold millions may yet visit this scene ; the 
noble dust of Britain's aristocracy will, year after 
year be added; other monuments of immense 
cost will be erected ; but at last, by the decaying 
touch of time, the whole will be " but as the dust 
they were vainly intended to commemorate." 



CHAPTER VI. 

AMUSEMENTS.— THE HANDEL FESTIVAL— 
"GOD SAVE THE QUEEN."— THE OPERA.— HER 
MAJESTY'S THEATRE.— PICCOLOMINI, LA TliA- 
VIA TA, AND THE CONSUMPTION.— COVENT GAR- 
DEN THEATRE.— CO VENT GARDEN MARKET— 
A BALL MASQUE.— DRURY LANE THEATRE- 
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE STAGE MANAGERS- 
HAUNTS OF JACK SHEPPARD— JONATHAN WILD 
AND OTHERS— MUSIC HALLS.— HOME AMUSE- 
MENTS. 

It is not my intention here to say anything 
of the numerous discussions that are going on 
concerning the morality or immorality that is 
spread from theatrical exhibitions. 

As the Handel Festival at the Crystal Pal- 
ace is now, (June 1857,) the all absorbing topic, I 
know of no better beginning for this chapter, 
than an attempt at its description. By referring 
to " Westminster Abbev," it will be seen that 
Handel was England's great musician, and that 

(107) 



108 HANDEL FESTIVAL. 

he was born in 1684, and died 1759. The 
Handel Festival was a grand, national musical 
festival, of three days continuance in honor of the 
birth of this musician; and the oratorios per- 
formed on the three days, were successively 
" The Messiah, — " Judas Maecalceus " — " Israel in 
Egypt" — Handel's three most wonderful pro- 
ductions. 

The operatic chorus numbered two thousand 
performers ; the instrumental band five hundred. 
The choristers to each part were five hundred. 
The instrumental band was distributed into one 
hundred and fifty violins, fifty violas, fifty violin- 
cellos, fifty double basses and two hundred wind 
instruments, besides a tremendous organ built for 
the occasion, and a " monster drum." This drum 
was about eight feet in diameter. The performance 
commenced on the first day at one o'clock. Long- 
before that time nearly thirty thousand persons 
were strolling through the park, gardens, and 
porticos of the Palace. The conductor of the 
oratorio was M. Costa. A great part of the 
nobility was present, but the second day was of 
course the great day of the feast owing to the 
presence of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Prince 



FOREIGN ROYALTY. 109 

Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess 
Royal — several other members of the Queen's 
household, besides the Emperor Maximillian of 
Austria, Prince Frederic William of Prussia, and 
other specimens of foreign royalty. The first 
day was devoted entirely to the " Messiah" During 
the hallelujah chorus I walked beyond a quarter 
of a mile through the Park and the sound of so 
many voices in full accord could be heard that 
distance plain enough to distinguish the words. 
The effect of this music as I heard it, now solemnly 
low, then breaking out in one full chorus, was 
peculiarly impressive. I afterwards understood 
that the music was heard beyond a half mile from 
the place called Norwood near the Palace. The 
position occupied by the performers was perfect. 
The west-end of the Central Transept was devoted 
entirely to the stage. This was arranged seat 
above seat, the highest being about twenty five 
feet above the lowest. The organ was near the 
top. The lady performers, one thousand in number, 
occupied the lower and consequently the front 
seats. A more beautiful sight — I venture the 
assertion never was witnessed and never can be 
imagined. The lady performers were dressed in 

10 



110 handel's Messiah. 

opera costumes, and the gay colors of their dresses 
contrasted strongly with the deep black dresses 
of the fifteen hundred male performers. The 
"Messiah" was composed in 1741. It is said to 
have been written in the remarkably short space 
of twenty two days. Considering the perfection 
of the music this seems incredible. It was first 
performed in Dublin one hundred and seventeen 
years ago. And although Mozart, Beethoven, 
and Haydn have flourished since then, yet the 
Messiah is, by those capable of judging considered 
the masterpiece of music. After the chorus " His 
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor," the 
entire assembly sent throughout the vast length 
and breadth of the Palace, a burst of applause so 
long, so loud that the crystal walls seemed to 
rattle and the iron girders to tremble as they 
echoed and re-echoed the startling sound. Madame 
JNTovello, Herr Formes, and Sims Reeves were 
the principal solo singers. The solos of the 
national anthem were sung by Madame JN T ovello. 
A beautiful feature of every public entertainment 
in England is, the performance always concludes 
with " G-od save the Queen." If at a concert — it 
is sung — or at the theatre it is played by the 



ROYAL CRITICS. Ill 

orchestra. This is always the signal for adjourn- 
ment, and is as regularly looked for as the 
adjournment itself. The second day was, as 
previously stated, " the great day of the feast." 
The audience was considerably larger and of 
course much gayer. Her Majesty was plainly 
dressed as usual, and had she not had a 
conspicuous and well known seat would have been 
taken, by myself at least, for anybody rather 
than the Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great 
Britain and Ireland. The Princess Royal is 
decidedly too handsome and intellectual looking- 
for the apparently pusillanimous Prince of Prussia. 
Prince Albert is a good-looking open countenanced 
specimen of a John Bullized German. 

The whole royal family must either be a 
collection of good musicians and all the rest of 
England perfectly ignorant of the science, or else 
the royal family is perfectly ignorant and the 
English, amateurs ; for I noticed that the royal 
family gave unbounded applause when every one 
else was quiet and was silent when every one else 
applauded. Perhaps this was aristocratic exclu- 
siveness ! 

" Judas Maccaboeus " the oratorio of the 



112 HANDEL FESTIVAL. 

day, though not as fine a production, was per- 
formed, if possible to detect a difference, better 
than the Messiah, It is also calculated better to 
delight the popular ear. As the piece advances 
one seems to hear the heathen rage and boast 
themselves on their invincibleness. Then is 
heard the pious chorus of the people of Israel, 
praying for their deliverance from the hand of 
their own and their God's enemies, lion's walls 
are without warriors, and deserted are her towers. 
The music seems only as a long solemn lamenta- 
tion. Judas declares himself and is recognized 
the leader of Israel's armies. He then returns 
victorious, and the chorus 



" Fall'n is the foe, 

Sion now her head shall raise." 



sweeps with melodious force, over the delighted 
and almost breathless audience. The war crv of 
Judas "Mi Camoka Baslin, Jehovah," was re- 
sponded to by the bands of Israel's warriors and 
the heathen full of terror at the might of God's 
people hastened to their far distant homes. 
The Sanctuary is recovered, and the triumphant 
chorus " Hallelujah ! Amen !" concludes the second 



OPERA HOUSE. 113 

day. The third day was devoted to l( Israel in 
Egypt y The success of the festival was unpre- 
cedented. The total receipts amounted to one 
hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and the 
total expenditures to about sixty thousand dollars. 
Such was the Handel Festival, and the impressions 
there received will remain fresh forever in the 
minds of every one that was present. Grand, 
inconceivably so, as it was, it is but the precursor 
of one which is to take place in 1860, and which 
will far surpass it. 

The regular Opera house of London is " Her 
Majesty's Theatre." This is a large stone build- 
ing, surrounded entirely with an immense stone 
portico, and is decidedly the most imposing place 
of amusement in London. The interior is also 
richly decorated. It has five tiers of boxes, all 
private property, or let for the season. Thus it 
is often very difficult for a casual visitor to secure 
a seat. In this particular, having purchased 
tickets at the door, and placing oneself confidingly 
in the hands of a " guide," acquaintanceship or 
friendship is found to be very useful, for without 
this convenience, nine times in ten a seat cannot 

be procured. Dress is extremely favorable to 

10* 



114 LA TR A VI ATA. 

good seats. A man that is dressed most, whether 
best or not, is sure to get the best seat. Admis- 
sion is totally impossible without dress coat, black 
pants, and fancy waistcoat ; and the nearer ladies 
come to carrying a fancy silk store, the better, 
infinitely so, it is for them. 

Here only, the greatest vocalists of the world 
appear. For some time, the first magnitude stars 
have been— feminine, Madlle. Piccolomini ; mas- 
culine, Signer Beneventano. The attraction "La 
Traviata" " La Traviata" whatever may be 
said of the immorality of the title, or the plot, is 
an exquisite production. And the persons here 
engaged in it, twelve in number, are very likely 
the best vocalists in the world. Certainly, Pic- 
colomini is if the English journals are judges.* 
The conclusion of La Traviata is very affecting, 
and would almost " move a rock to tears." Vio- 
letta Vatery, (la traviata,) Madlle. Piccolomini, 
is in the last stage of consumption, and is about 
to "shuffle off this mortal coil." After waking 
up suddenly in the night, she summons all her 
friends and servants to attend her in her last 



* Piccolomini afterwards visited the United States, but met with only a 
favorable reception. Her talents were not considered so remarkable. 



SENTIMENTALISM. 115 

moments. She then exclaims, " Ah ! io ritomo 
avivere!" and passes away so beautifully that 
involuntarily I exclaimed, " let me die the death " 
of Piccolomini, and let my last end be like hers. 
But unfortunately, the Madam spoiled all the 
beauties of her death, by letting the audience 
know her "last end" had not come. She reap- 
peared in five minutes, recalled to her worthless 
state of existence by the clamors of the multitude ; 
and with an inward, irresistible feeling of dislike 
to her for coming to life again, and thereby 
spoiling my vision of a happy death, I left the 
establishment. 

Consumption is, in reality, the bane of Eng- 
land, but since Piccolomini has been learning the 
people how to die with it, it is strange, how im- 
mensely popular the disease has become. All 
sentimental young ladies look pale; dress as 
much as possible in white, (emblematical of their 
purity ;) carry white handkerchiefs in their hands, 
make frequent application of the same to their 
mouth ; and faint if a door is left open, or vio- 
lently shut. The minor theatres have also got 
the disease ; and those that cannot afford a per- 
son w T ho will die sentimentally slow, make ample 



116 COVENT GARDEN THEATRE. 

amends by shooting an actor into the other world 
from a large wooden cannon, or by allowing him 
to be blown to pieces, by sitting down on a pack 
of exploding crackers. 

Not far from " Her Majesty's," is " Covent 
Garden Theatre." As the entire neighborhood is 
so intimately connected with the doings of the 
Theatre, it may not be improper for me to place 
here the result of my various perambulations in 
this part of the city. This is rather an ancient 
spot. Covent, formerly Convent Garden, was so 
called, from the old monastery formerly situated 
here ; some say, that it was named from being 
a part of the yard attached to Westminster Ab- 
bey. The distance between this and Westminster, 
is about one mile and a half, and is entirely built 
up ; some of the houses bearing so old a date that 
this is rendered rather unlikely. I have seen 
Covent Garden mentioned in old plays bearing 
the date 1500. but cannot now recall the sen- 
tence. There is one, I remember but of a much 
later date, 1673. " Come, doe not blaspheme 
this masquerading age, like an ill-bred citie dame 
whose husband is half broke bie living. in Covent 
Garden." The greatest market in Great Britain 



FRUITS. 117 

is held here. This originated, as a stone bears 
record, in 1656, from a few old women's stalls 
near Bedford house. The proper time to see the 
real beauty and grotesque appearance of this 
market, is about three o'clock on a fine summer 
morning. Fruits, flowers, vegetables, pet-birds 
and gold-fish, are the principal articles of mer- 
chandise. From the morning markets held here, 
all the huckster stalls and green-grocer shops in 
London are supplied. In every part of London, 
at three o'clock begins the tumultuous war of the 
drivers, and the rumbling of carts on their way 
to Covent Garden. It is not a little remarkable 
that, although the climate of England is damp, 
and cloudy, especially so in the neighborhood of 
London — yet fruits arrive at very great per- 
fection. Pears, cherries, plums, strawberries, 
raspberries, figs and grapes, are generally of 
mammoth size, and very cheap. Peaches are 
almost unknown. Those they do have come 
mostly from France, and sell at a shilling 
(twenty-four cents) each. Apples are very poor, 
compared with those of the American markets. 
English gardeners, certainly do excel all others 
in raising fine pears, grapes and strawberries. 



118 st. Paul's parish church. 

The jargonelle pear of England, cannot be 
equalled. They are sold in London for a penny 
and " two-pence" each, and are greatly superior 
to the foreign jargonelle pear sold in the New 
York and Philadelphia Saloons, at fifty and 
seventy-five cents each. On one side of Covent 
Garden, I noticed about two hundred and fifty 
old women, sitting upon boards raised on stones, 
shelling peas for the sellers. The Cockneys con- 
sider peas a very beautiful fndt. On the West 
side of the market, stands St. Paul's Parish 
Church, (not the Cathedral) built in 1633, and 
rebuilt 1795. This church has been, like many 
other objects in the neighborhood, rendered cele- 
brated by the pencil of Hogarth. I once pur- 
chased from a wandering Jew pedlar, in Philadel- 
phia, a small copy of Hogarth's " Morning," on 
which was a portion of this church. It is repre- 
sented as being built of brick, with stone columns 
in front, and covered with the red earthen tiles 
still in use. This church at present is of stone, 
inlaid with brick, the same stone columns and a 
slate roof. Covent Garden Theatre, of which the 
green room opened into the market, is of course 
the most celebrated place near the market, unless 



JULIEN. 119 

I except its rival sister, the Drury Lane Theatre, 
situated about two minutes walk to the North- 
east. Covent Garden Theatre, according to its 
historical tablet, was first opened Dec. 7, 1732. 
This building was burned down in 1808. In the 
fire, the celebrated Handel organ, and the wines 
of the Beef Steak Club w r ere entirely destroyed. 
The Prince of Wales laid the first stone of the 
second building in 1808, and it was re-opened in 
1809. Here M. Julien, held his promenade con- 
certs, and in 1847, opened it with tremendous 
expense as an Italian Opera House. An idea of 
its style can be had, when it is known that the 
expenses of the house for 1848, were over two 
hundred and ten thousand dollars. The receipts 
were somewhat less. Julien sustained the loss, 
but made up for it, the succeeding year. In De- 
cember last, Julien held a grand "Bal Masque" 
here. The beauty of London, in fact of the 
country, was present. The large hall was crowded. 
The gay costumes of the masquers, the sparkling 
of diamonds, the glitter of gold, and the light 
shed upon the scene by a thousand gas-lights, 
conspired to render the gay show indescribably 
bewildering. Here, an inhabitant of lower, 



120 BAL MASQUE. 

darker regions, leaned pensively on the arm of 
his arch enemy a clergyman ; here Punch sported 
in the dance with the Queen of the Fairies ; and 
Punch's Judy was taken care of by a soldier ; 
sailors, fairies, foreign princes and princesses, 
stern judges in their furs and robes, bold Jack 
Sheppard, historical, mythological, and poetical 
figures without number, made up the party. The 
band struck up, almost for the last dance on the 
programme, partners were chosen, the cry of 
" fire," arose in their very midst, a simultaneous 
rush was made for the doors, many bright and 
beautiful beings were crushed to death, and an 
hour afterwards, the entire scene of beauty had 
vanished like a dream. The ruins are cleared 
away, and stone after stone of a new Italian 
Opera House is filling up the vacancy. 

Between this and Drury Lane, I could find 
no traces of the houses of Molly King, Mother 
Douglas, and Mrs. Bright, which have been ren- 
dered immortal by many authors, as the places 
where Hogarth obtained the models for his inimi- 
table " Rake's Progress," and "Harlot's Prog- 



ress." 



The exterior of Drury Lane is rather impos- 



DRURY LANE. 121 

ing. It is of stone, with stone columns at the 
front and side. The interior is much better than 
the majority of London Theatres ; though this is 
not saying much. The best theatres of England 
cannot be compared with those of Broadway N. Y., 
and only favorably with those of Philadelphia. 
There is one thing, however, in favor of London 
theatres ; the actors and actresses must be superior 
or they are not countenanced by the public. As 
regards also the numbers employed they cannot 
be surpassed. I have frequently seen in one 
play, on the stage at the same time, one hundred 
and thirty first class performers. Their orchestras 
are good and number from thirty to fifty per- 
formers in the first class establishments. An 
actor's pay in London is a hundred per cent lower 
than in America, and undoubtedly it is low 
enough there. 

I have called Drury Lane the rival sister of 
Covent Garden. Their histories are very sim- 
ilar. One is hardly allowed even to burn 
down without the other " following suit." Ap- 
parently from records existing, the greatest rivalry 
was in 1816. Each had its supporters. Some 

were loud in their praises of the Covent Garden 

11 



122 THEATKtCAL MANAGEMENT. 

actors, others equally loud for "old Drury/' 
Both houses were nightly crowded to excess. 
The rivalry was soon exploded by the fact be- 
coming known, that the two theatres were under 
one management, having only one company of 
actors. Each actor had two names, one for Drury, 
the other for Covent. When an actor was not 
wanted at one, his services were required at the 
other. Thus the rivalry was very beneficial to 
the management. The following letters which I 
quote from an old pamphlet soon appeared, and 
give a very good idea of the modus operandi ; but 
whether or not they were written by the managers 
of the two stages, as it is pretended they were, 
appears somewhat fabulous. 

11 Drury Lane, Nov. 9. 
"Dear Wild:— 

" For God's sake lend me a couple of con- 
spirators for to night. Recollect you have borrowed 
one of ours for a singing druid, and another of 
our best is Doge of Venice on Packer's resignation. 
Entirely and devotedly yours 7 Hopkins/' 



CORRESPONDENCE. 123 

" Covent Garden, Nov. 9. 
11 My Dear Hopkins : — 

" I have ordered them to look you out two of 
the genteelest assassins, and I'll take care they 
go shaved and sober. Pray tell Farren he must 
play our archbishop to-morrow : we'll cut the 
part that he may dress time enough afterwards 
for your general in the camp. 

Yours perpetually — Wild. 

P. S, If you have a full moon to spare, I wish 
you'd lend it us for Thursday. I send you some 
lightning that I can venture to recommend." 

11 Covent Garden, Kov. 11. 
" Dear Hopkins : — 
11 Pray how shall we manage without Smith 
to-morrow ? I depend on your lending him us for 
Harry Fifth ; but now I see you have put him on 
for Charles Surface. Could'nt you let him come 
to us and play two acts of Harry, as you don't 
want him in Charles till your third? and Hull 
shall read the rest, with an apology for Smith's 
becoming suddenly hoarse, sprained his ankle, 
&c. ! &c. ! ! Cordially yours. — Wild. 

P. S. My vestal virgin grows so plagued 
large I wish you'd lend us Mrs. Robinson for a 
night." 



124 COVEN* GARDEN THEATRE. 

" Drury Lane, Nov. 11, 1816. 
11 Dear Wild:— 

u By particular desire our vestal virgin is 
not transferable, but we have a spare Venus, and 
a duplicate Juno ; so send for whichever suits you. 
The scheme for Smith won't do— -but change your 
play for anything, for we"ll tack the Camp to 
the School for Scandal, to secure you an over flow. 
Thoroughly yours, Hopkins. " 

" Co vent Garden, Nov. 12. 
" My Dear Fellow: — 

" There's the devil to do about our Tuesday's 
pantomime — the blacksmith can't repair our great 
serpent until Friday, and the old camel that we 
thought quite sound, has broken down at re- 
hearsal ; so pray send us your elephant by the 
bearer, and a small tiger with the longest tail 
you can pick out. I must trouble you too for a 
dozen of your best dancing shepherds for that 
night ; for though I see you'll want them for 
highwaymen in the Beggar's Opera, they will be 
quite in time for us afterwards. For ever com- 
pletely yours, Wild." 



PKURY LANE. 125 

" Drury Lane, Nov. 12. 
" Deae Wild :— 

" I just write you a line while the beasts are 
packing up, to beg you'll not be out of spirits, as 
you may depend upon the shepherds and any 
other animals vou have occasion for. I have it in 
orders to acquaint you too that we dont use 
Henderson for Falstaff on Friday, you may 
have him for Richard, wath a dozen and a half 
of our soldiers for Bosworth Field, only begging 
that you'll return 'em us in time for Coxheath, 
Totally yours — Hopkixs. 

P. S. Lend me a Cupid — mine's down with 
the measles — ." 

" Co vent Garden, Xov. 12. 
" Dear Hopkins : — 

" Thank vou for vour Henderson and the sol- 
diers ; do let them bring their helmets, for ours 
are tinning. The bearer is our Cupid at a shill- 
ing a night, finding his own wings. 

Genuine yours — Wild." 

As Drury Lane is a first class building, so 
are the actors of the very best class of perform- 
ers. The drama is here displayed in all of its 

11* 



126 LONDON ICE CREAM. 

perfection and legitimacy. In the admission, the 
prices coincide with those of the American thea- 
tres ; but there is one portion of the interior sys- 
tem, that is entirely John Bull. The box-passage 
guide for walking with you to the box-keeper, 
humbly beseeches you for sixpence. The box- 
keeper for opening the door, requests sixpence. 
The " bill-boy," thrusts a programme at you and 
demands sixpence. If you accompany a lady, she 
is obliged to leave her bonnet in charge of a wo- 
man engaged for that purpose ; said woman 
" according to the laws of the house," is en- 
titled to one shilling. Should you decide on ice- 
cream between the plays, you receive a mixtm*e 
of so " questionable a shape," that you find it 
very difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion as 
to whether it is inodorous bear's grease, or a mix- 
ture of lard, water, and bruised strawberries. 
One excellent apology may be made, however — 
for the miserable compound : — the people of Lon- 
don do not know what good cream or milk is. It 
is said that " figures will not lie ;" from actual 
calculation there is more milk consumed in Lon- 
don in one day, than all the cows in England and 
Wales can give in three. Where does it come 
from ? 



ANNOYANCES. 127 

Another part of the interior arrangement, 
particularly annoying, is the number of old wo- 
men and bovs allowed to roam at will through 
the building, selling " lemon y'ade," " gin - gcr 
be'y'eer," m bottle st-y'out," and yelling it with a 
peculiar nasal twang. 

In the neighborhood of the Theatre, still 
stand houses, formerly the haunts of Fielding, 
Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild, Dick Turpin, 
and other members of this fraternity. In addi- 
tion to Drury Lane, there are several first-class 
theatres patronised by royalty, but greatly infe- 
rior in architectural beauty and size. The same 
annoyances and pleasures are observable, how- 
ever, as in the celebrated " Old Drury," 

In London there seems to have been no pub- 
lic Theatre previous to 1676. In that year three 
or four were erected. Among others, the Black- 
friars, celebrated on account of the connection of 
Shakspeare with it. Also the " Curtain," in 
which Ben Jonson performed. Before this period 
there were public amusements of this nature, but 
the performances all took place in the inn yards, 
under canvass coverings, w 7 ith platforms erected 
for the spectators — very similar altogether to the 



128 PUBLIC GAKDENS. 

strolling companies of the present day. In Lon- 
don, at the present time there are twenty 
theatres. 

In addition to these, nearly all the taverns 
have music rooms or stages for the performance 
of the minor drama. Public Gardens are also 
greatly in popular favor. A lengthy allusion to 
these will be found in another place. Public 
Fairs have almost disappeared. The frolic and 
mischief attendant upon the celebrated Green- 
wich fair, is ended by parliamentary enactment. 
A few trifling concerns called fairs, are held on 
certain days throughout the year, in various parts 
of the city. A lively time is brought with them 
— especially to pickpockets — and the vicious. 
Among others, that held in the Thames' Tunnel, 
is peculiarly interesting. 

Home amusements consist of dancing, music, 
and whist in general, besides all parlor games. 
The majority of the private dwellings of the 
wealthier classes are furnished with a room for 
bagatelle or billiard table. These amusements 
are in no particular confined to those called 
" worldly minded," but even clergymen can, con- 
sistently with their calling, dance or play a soci- 



SOCIAL HABITS. 129 

able game of whist or bagatelle. And as these 
home amusements are on the increase, so propor- 
tionately the business of the dancing cribs and 
music halls is on the descending scale. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.— THE DRUIDS— 
HISTORY.— THE ORGAN— READING DESK AND 
COMMUNION TABLE— THE MONUMENTS— JOHN 
HOWARD.— BISHOP HEBER— THE LIBRARY- 
WHISPERING GALLERY— THE GREAT BELL— 
THE BALL.— THE CRYPTS— WELLINGTON'S TI- 
TLE—SERVICE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, 
VS. PRAYER BOOK. 

To attempt to give the exact history of this 
grand monument of the early Christians would 
be fruitless. Its earliest clays are buried in ob- 
scurity as profound as those of Westminster 
Abbey. 

In various parts of England, especially in 

Cornwall, still exist the remains of the Druids, 

and from the fact that Druidic remains have at 

various times been discovered in the ground on 

which St. Paul's Cathedral now stands, I think 

there can be but little doubt that the Druids had 

here a temple in the very earliest days of Britain's 

(130) 



THE DRUIDS. 131 

history. There are very few, however, who be- 
lieve this. In whatever manner this has been 
disputed, the discovery of the stone coffins and 
funeral vases of the early Britains, said to have 
been made here, and those of Roman construction, 
has never been disputed. Sto we says, as late as 1313, 
there was discovered many scalps of oxen. This 
to the believers of Druidic foundation, would be 
a confirmation of their opinions. A venerable 
historian, (Bede) and one whose testimony must 
bear great weight, whatever may be our indi- 
vidual opinions, declares that a Christian church 
was erected here, cotemporaneous with St. Au- 
gustine. The general account is, that in 610, 
Ethelbert, King of Kent, undertook the erection 
of St. Paul's. In 686, Erkenwald, devoted vast 
sums of money to its completion. This was de- 
stroyed by fire in 961, and rebuilt the next year. 
In 1086, it was again destroyed by fire. Then 
originated the design of building the tremendous 
Cathedral which preceded the present structure. 
This was not completed until 1240. This build- 
ing was several times struck by lightning and 
otherwise injured. In 1666, came the tremendous 
fire, alluded to in other portions of this work, and 



132 st. Paul's. 

in this fire the Cathedral was entirely destroyed. 
The destroyed building, although by no means as 
large as the present, must have been a mag- 
nificent affair. Roman Catholicism built it, as it 
did Westminster Abbey, for the awe-inspiring 
service of the Romish church. Here Romanism 
stamped everything as it did in Westminster, and 
as is still visible there. Here were seventy-six 
chantry chapels, with two hundred priests. In 
the nave of the Cathedral, stood a tremendous 
cross with a taper in front of it constantly burn- 
ing, and everywhere around, the eye rested upon 
images of the Virgin and the Saints. The 
Reformation dawned nearly three centuries and 
a quarter ago; the glorious customs began to 
die away, burning candles were forever extin- 
guished, mass was said for the last time, and 
the Book of Common Prayer was introduced. 
The fire came, Protestantism reared a new Ca- 
thedral, and on this is stamped Protestantism, 
as indelibly as is Romanism on the Abbey. 

The present Cathedral was commenced in 
1675, and was not completed until 1710, 
although in the intervening space of about 
thirty-five years, the masons were daily in all 



g 




st. Paul's. 135 

weathers employed. Sir Christopher Wren, was 
the designer and superintendent of the work, 
until it was completed. The most beautiful 
external view of the Cathedral, can be obtained 
toward sunset on a summer evening, approach- 
ing it from Ludgate Hill. This, (the western) 
front is very imposing. Within the enclosed 
space in front, is a marble statue of Queen 
Anne. On the base of this, is a figure of Brit- 
ania with a spear, Gallia with a crown, Hiber- 
nia with a harp, and America with a bow. 
The church is Portland stone. This, in the 
original state, is a hard white stone, but from 
the appearance of St. Paul's, owing to bitumi- 
nous coal smoke, its color might be mistaken 
for black. The grand entrance is in the west 
front. A flight of twenty-two very broad steps 
of Irish black marble leads to it. At the top of 
the steps is a doubled portico. The lower col- 
umns of which are Corinthian, and the upper 
Composite. On each side is a tower, two hundred 
and twenty- two feet high. One of these forms 
the belfry, the other a clock tower. The towers 
are enriched, as in fact is the entire building, with 
various statues of the Apostles and Saints. Cn 



136 PORTICOES. 

the pediment between the towers, is a piece of 
sculpture representing the Conversion of Saint 
Paul. 

There are entrances also in the north and 
south fronts. A semi-circular portico approached 
by twelve steps of black marble is around each 
entrance. The east front is very plain. The 
ground plan, like all ancient places of worship, is 
in the shape of a cross. The length of the Ca- 
thedral is five hundred feet. Its breadth at the 
transept, two hundred and fifty feet, at the west 
front, one hundred and eighty. The walls in 
height ninety feet. The height to the top of the 
cross on the dome four hundred and five feet. 
The diameter of the dome, one hundred and 
eighty-nine feet. The entire building, covers an 
area of nearly three acres, and is surrounded with 
a tremendous iron railing of which alone, the cost 
was sixty thousand dollars. So much for the 
exterior in shape and appearance. The chief 
beauties, unlike the " whited sepulchre," are 
within. The usual entrance for visitors, is that 
on the north. On entering, gigantic columns sup- 
porting the arched ceilings, the variegated marble 
floors, vergers in their black gowns, moving slowly 



THE ORGAN. 137 

through the building, the monuments of the 
great, and the solemn chanting of the choir, in 
the chapel on the left, — all tend to fill the mind 
with the solemn grandeur of the scene, not un- 
like that experienced in Westminster. So in- 
spired with awe, was an Esquimaux woman, that 
shrinking back on her conductor and gazing aloft 
she asked, " Did man make it ? " 

There is but little to be admired on the first 
floor of the Cathedral, except the tessellated floor, 
the massive columns, the tremendous height of 
the arches overhead, and the chapel. This 
chapel, or as it is usually called the choir, is 
separated from the nave of the Cathedral by 
heavy gates of iron. The organ is built above 
these gates, supported by eight marble columns. 
The organ is a magnificent piece of workman- 
ship. The cost of it was about fourteen thousand 
dollars. It contains two thousand one hundred 
and twenty-three pipes. The sound, especially 
when accompanied by the voices of the choir, is 
grand beyond description. It echoes and re- 
echoes through the vast building, and when heard 
from the whispering gallery, sets every nerve in 
motion. The soul is filled with ecstacy, and 

12* 



138 THE CHOIR. 

seems carried away far beyond the arena allotted 
to human pleasures. While with rapture listen- 
ing to the anthem notes as they were borne along 
the arched roof, the walls, and monuments of the 
illustrious dead wafting back the hallowed strains 
and every echo breathing a sound that seemed 
not born of earth, I have often recalled the 
words of Mrs. Hemans, 

" Wherefore must rapture its full tide reveal, 
Thus by the signs betokening sorrow's power ? 
Oh ! is it not, that humbly we may feel 
Our nature's limits in its proudest hour! 1 ' 

In the choir, in addition to the organ, the 
two principal attractions are the reader's desk, 
and the Communion table. The reader's desk is 
made of brass deeply covered with gold. The 
Bible from which the lessons are read, rests upon 
the expanded w r ings of an eagle. The Com- 
munion table is covered with rich crimson velvet, 
and stands within an enclosure paved with por- 
phyry, and finely inlaid with various figures. 
The choir everywhere is decorated with wood 
carvings of fruits, flowers, cherubs and crowns, 
said to be the finest wood carvings in the world. 

The monuments, about fifty in number, the 



MONUMENTS. 139 

majority of which are erected to heroes of the 
army and navy, are not particularly interesting, 
with but one or two exceptions. Very few re- 
mains are interred here. There certainly seems 
to be a greater amount of interest hovering 
around an unmarked newly-made grave in a 
country churchyard, in which reposes some mor- 
tal remains in an unwaking sleep, than there is 
in the too often heartless monuments erected here. 
The monument, however, of John Howard, the 
philanthropist is peculiarly interesting. This is 
a fine statue of Howard, dressed in the Roman 
costume, trampling in the dust some fetters, hold- 
ing in his right hand a key, and in his left a 
scroll bearing the words " A Plan for the im- 
provement of Prisons and Hospitals." On the 
pedestal is a bass relief, representing the interior 
of a cell, and Howard just entering with food and 
clothing for the prisoners. Under this, is the 
simple name " John Howard." On the opposite 
side of the pedestal is the inscription : — 

11 This extraordinary man had the fortune to 
be honored whilst living, in the manner in which 
his virtues deserved. 

" He received the thanks of both houses of the 



140 JOHN HOWARD. 

British and Irish Parliaments for his eminent 
services rendered to his country and to mankind. 

"Our national prisons and hospitals, improved 
upon the suggestion of his wisdom, bear testimoy 
to the solidity of his judgment, and to the estima- 
tion in which he was held. 

" In every part of the civilized world, which 
he traversed to reduce the sum of human misery, 
from the throne to the dungeon, his name was 
mentioned with respect, gratitude and admiration. 

"His modesty alone defeated various efforts, 
which were made during his life to erect this 
statue which the public has now consecrated to 
his memory. He was born at Hackney, in the 
County of Middlesex, Sept 2, 1726. 

" The early part of his life he spent in retire- 
ment, residing principally upon his paternal 
estate at Cardington in Bedfordshire, for which 
County he served the office of Sheriff in the year 
1773. 

" He expired at Cherson, in Russian Tartary, 
on the 20 Jan., 1790, a victim to the perilous and 
benevolent attempt to ascertain the cause, and 
find an efficacious remedy for, the plague. 

" He trod an open and unfrequented path to 



BISHOP HEBER. 141 

immortality in the ardent and unremitted exercise 
of Christian charity. 

"May this tribute to his fame excite an 
emulation of his truly glorious achievements." 

Another splendid monument is that of 
Bishop Heber. This is a statue of the Bishop 
kneeling, one hand upon his breast, the other 
resting upon a Bible. On the pedestal he is 
represented confirming two Indian converts. 
His inscription concludes with the following lines 
written by himself some years before his death, 

u Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee, 

Though sorrow and darkness encompass the tomb ; 
Thy Saviour has passed through the portal before thee, 

And the lamp of his love is thy guide through the gloom. 
Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee, 

Whose God was thy ransom, thy guardian and guide, 
He gave thee, he took thee, and he will restore thee, 

And death has no sting, for the Saviour has died." 

Leaving the monuments, on the right is a 
door from which is a flight of stairs leading to 
the whispering gallery. After ascending one 
hundred and twenty Jive of these I came to a door 
opening into the Library. This is a fine room, 
the most remarkable feature of which is the floor. 
This is composed of two thousand, three hundred 
and seventy six pieces of oak, so wedged in that 



142 st. Paul's, 

not a nail or screw of any kind was used. 
There are nearly eight thousand volumes in the 
library including the first printed volume of the 
Common Prayer. I then passed by the geometri- 
cal stairs, ninety steps in number, so evenly 
balanced on the bottom step as to need no farther 
support, and ascended the remaining one hundred 
and thirty jive, (in all 260) steps to the Whisper- 
ing Gallery. This runs entirely around the base 
of the Dome. It is constructed on the principle 
of an unbroken communication, so that the least 
whisper on one side of gallery is distinctly heard 
on the other, a distance of about one hundred 
and forty feet. If the door leading to the gallery 
is violently shut, the noise is quicker and much 
louder than the report of a rifle. It is now 
against the law to shut the door, as it is feared it 
will ultimately injure the dome. Though on a 
" certain consideration " this will sometimes be 
done by the guide in attendance. From the 
Gallery the floor of the Cathedral appears very 
beautiful. The centre piece of the floor, under 
the Dome is a large plate of brass. This is 
directly over the sarcophagus of Lord JNelson in 
the vaults below. Some idea of the great distance 



THE CLOCK. 143 

between the floor and the Whispering Gallery 
may be found from the fact that an English penny 
dropped from the Gallery edgewise was greatly 
flattened and cut a hole in the solid marble 
nearly half an inch in depth. 

It was something of a task to get up to the 
great bell, but when once there I was well repaid 
for the trouble. It is ten feet in diameter, the 
metal is nearly a foot thick, and weighs eleven 
thousand four hundred and seventy-four pounds. 
The hour is struck by a hammer that weighs one 
hundred and forty-five pounds, and the clapper 
which is used only on the death of a member of 
the Royal Family, weighs one hundred and 
eighty pounds. Under this there are two smaller 
bells on which the quarters of the hour are struck. 
The clock is rather an extensive affair although 
by no means as large as that about to be placed 
in the Clock Tower of the New Houses of Par- 
liament. The two faces of the clock are each 
twenty feet in diameter, the minute hands are 
nine feet eight inches long, the hour hands about 
six. The figures on the faces are three feet high. 
The weight on the pendulum weighs about one 
hundred and ten pounds and is singularly sus- 



144 THE BALL. 

ponded by a steel spring only a little more than 
the sixteenth part of an inch in thickness. 

The view from the galleries is extensive, 
especially in very clear weather. If it was a 
task to mount to the bell it was a much greater 
one to get up into the ball on the top of the Dome ; 
a distance as before stated of over four hundred 
feet, ox six hundred and twenty two steps. The ball 
from the street appears like any common gilded 
ball on a steeple and is apparently about six inches 
in diameter, it is decidedly another matter when 
near it. It is in reality about seven feet in diame- 
ter, and a dozen persons would experience no diffi- 
culty in sitting comfortably within it. It is com- 
posed of sheet iron very thick and firmly riveted. 
The weight of the ball is five thousand six hun- 
clred pounds. Thirty feet above this is a cross 
fifteen feet high. 

Sir Christopher Wren must have had a 
towering architectural taste ; but had he only had 
Barnum for a co-laborer, undoubtedlv a much 
easier way would have been invented for reaching 
the top. Why could not a steam engine be built 
in one of the numberless arches in the "vaults" 
and thus save the awful racking of the ascendant's 



SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN. 145 

bones by shooting him up with telegraphic speed, 
either to the top, or else have stations every hun- 
dred feet or so on the route? It is true this 
would spoil the romance ! 

Having become satisfied with the extreme 
top I took up a rapid march towards the extreme 
bottom ! the Crypts or Vaults under the edifice. 
The Crypt is divided into three parts, by immense 
columns or butments forty feet square. In these 
divisions are many smaller arches supported by 
numberless small pillars. There are many tombs 
here, and some remains of the old Cathedral. 
The most celebrated painters of England are 
buried in the Vaults. Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
Benjamin West, and others. The tomb of Sir 
Christopher Wren is also in the Crypt. This is 
the plainest tomb of the entire number. A sim- 
ple slab over his remains bears the inscription. — 

" Here lieth 

Sir Christopher Wren, Knt., 

the builder of this Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 

who died in the year of our Lord, 1723, 

and of his age, 91 " 

In noticing the Choir, I forgot to mention a 

13 



146 NELSOSf. 

plain slab there, also to the memory of Sir 
Christopher Wren, The inscription is in Latin 
thus rendered. Under this is buried the builder 
of this church and city, Sir Christopher Wren, 
who lived beyond ninety years not to himself but 
to the public good. Reader if you seek his monu- 
ment look around. He died Feb 25, 1723, aged 91. 
The sarcophagus in which are the remains 
of Horatio Viscount JNelson is very handsomely 
made with a black marble top. This was pre- 
pared by Cardinal Wolsey for his own interment, 
but in this as in many of his long cherished 
hopes he was disappointed. The Duke of Well- 
ington is also buried in a vault similar to that in 
which is the tomb of Nelson. His monument 
has not yet been erected. If this should be as 
magnificent as his coffin,, or his four coffins, it will 
undoubtedly be the most attractive feature of 
the Cathedral. The following is engraved on the 
coffin lid, and as it is an excellent specimen of 
titles of nobility, I copied it verbatim : — 

" The Most High, Mighty, and Most Noble 
Prince Arthur Duke and Marquis of Wellington, 
Marquis of Douro, Earl of Wellington, Viscount 
Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, and 



WELLINGTON. 147 

Baron Douro of Wellesley, Knight of the Most 
Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross 
of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, one of 
her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, 
and Field Marshal and Commander in Chief of 
Her Majesty's Forces. Born 1st., May, 1779 : 
Died 14th. September 1852." 

In connection with St. Paul's, I have several 
times alluded to Westminster Abbey. Westmin- 
ster possesses a peculiar aspect of majesty. 
Erected by Romanism, the enthusiasm, the love 
of grandeur, the zeal for the church, which Ro- 
manists so generally possess, all of which are so 
indelibly marked upon the Abbey, in spite of our 
own convictions or inclinations, inspire us with 
sincere respect. In St. Paul's, it seemed to me 
that I did not possess this feeling. There was 
something which caused me to admire in a greater 
degree the artistic beauty and the great mind of 
the builder. To those who have never visited 
and compared the two monuments of the Church, 
it w r ould be very difficult to imagine the difference. 
Built as was one for the worship of God, the 
Saviour, and the Virgin, in an unknown tongue, 
clouds of incense rising and spreading through- 



148 st. Paul's. 

out the building, and the mysterious lights of a 
thousand tapers shed over the scene. The other, 
a sacred temple of the living God, where He was 
to be worshipped " in Spirit and in Truth," in a 
language that all could understand, where was no 
sprinkling priest, and where Christ was the light, 
and a broken heart, the most acceptable offering. 
How wonderful the change produced by the 
Reformation ! Only three centuries and not quite 
a quarter ago, yet the world was so revolutionized 
that the strongest minds stagger at the contem- 
plation. How great must have appeared the 
change to those who were wont to assemble daily 
to hear mass, and the reading and interpretation 
of Scriptures by the priests in Westminster, when 
they assembled in St. Paul's, and there learned 
that the same Scriptures were to be read and 
studied by themselves ; that these were the rules 
of Faith, instead of the traditions of the Church. 
In the three and a quarter centuries that have 
passed, so great have been the results of the 
change in England, I find from actual calcula- 
tions, that the number of Romanists is exceed- 
ingly small, and the number of Protestants is 
nearly eleven millions, or more than one-third of 



CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT. 149 

the entire population. One-half of this number 
belongs to the established Church of England. 

There is but little difference between the 
service of the Church of England, and that of the 
Episcopal Church of the United States, although 
the establishments are vastly different. The 
Church of England, in almost every particular, 
is connected with the Government of the country. 
The Government builds the churches from the 
income derived from church lands, tithes, church- 
rates, offerings received on Easter, and from 
several other rates and offerings. The income 
amounts to about twenty-five millions of dollars 
annually. From this income the clergy is paid. 
Each church has its vicar and curate. The vicar 
can be displaced only by preaching or practising 
error in doctrine. Consequently, if a congrega- 
tion dislikes its minister, it can go wherever it 
desires, but cannot discharge the offending cler- 
gyman. This seems very well when a congrega- 
tion happens to be well suited, a minister does 
not often receive a " louder call," and conse- 
quently bad feelings are not engendered. The 
number of churches owned by the Church of 

England, is about fourteen thousand, of which I 

13* 



150 EDUCATION. 

judge there is about one-fourteenth located in 
London. 

Americans, or any other foreigners, unless 
at some time connected intimately with the 
Church of England, experience great difficulty in 
understanding exactly what it is. Its intimate 
connection w T ith state, its tithe system, with all of 
this system's modifications and many exceptions, 
and many other parts of the system so dissimilar 
to the church in other countries are the causes of 
this difficulty. 

The poor quality and small quantity of edu- 
cation possessed by the Londoners in general has 
already been alluded to. Whatever may be said 
of this, yet, learning the most profound, united 
with wealth, and often with rank and titles is 
found among the clergy. Notwithstanding the 
fact that daily schools for all classes are "few 
and far between," yet the church is realty awake 
to the importance of universal education. Almost 
every church has connected with it a Charity 
school, and in these, the children are taught 
everything in relation to the Christian religion. 
The children of America, however proficient 
otherwise, do not receive one-tenth part of the 



% PRAYER BOOK. 151 

religious instruction that do the children of 
England, 

I mentioned a slight difference existing be- 
tween the Church of England Service, and that 
of the Episcopal Church in the United States. 
The first difference occurs in the opening sen- 
tences of the Morning Prayer. There being three 
more in the Prayer book, than in the " Church 
Service/' (the name by which the Prayer book 
is generally called in England.) The short 
" declaration of absolution," is not in the Church 
Service. At the conclusion of the first prayer, 
the sentences beginning, " Lord open thou our 
lips," are six in number in the Church Service, 
instead of two only, as in the Prayer book. In 
the Church Service, the Gloria in Excehis occurs 
only in the Communion service. The Nicene 
creed is not in the Daily Morning prayer, but is 
used daily in the portion of the Communion ser- 
vice, read before the Epistle and Gospel for the 
day. The prayers at the conclusion of the Morn- 
ing prayer, are common to both books with the 
exception of substituting the names of the Queen 
and other members of the Royal family, for those 
of the President of the United States, and the 



152 CHUKCH SERVICE.* 

members in Congress assembled. In the evening- 
service, the Magnificat is used in the Church 
Service, instead of the JBonum est of the Prayer 
Book ; and nunc dimittis, instead of Benedic, ani- 
ma mea. The litany is the same with the excep- 
tion of a very few words. The Prayers and 
Thanksgivings occur in different orders, but the 
words are about the same. The Church service 
in the Communion, has two prayers for the Queen, 
and the Mcene creed, instead of " Hear also," &c, 
down to the sentence beginning " Let your light ;" 
is different. The form of Solemnization of Matri- 
mony is four times as long in the Church Service, 
as it is in the Prayer Book, and is different in seve- 
ral manners. In England, the bans of Matrimony 
must be published every day of church for three 
weeks before the time of the ceremony. This is 
done by the officiating clergyman of the parish 
in which the " happy couple" reside, and consists 
only in the clergyman saying " I publish the 
bans of Marriage between M. — of — and N. — of — 
If any of you know cause, or just impediment, 
why these two persons should not be joined to- 
gether in holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. 



HAKRIA6ES. 153 

This is the first, (second or third) time of asking." 
Publishing the bans is still the law in some parts 
of the United States. The Church Service, also 
requests the officiating clergyman to preach a ser- 
mon for the especial benefit of the married pair, 
and requests them to take the Communion. 
It thus requires no short period of time to 
get married in England. The Church Service 
contains a Commination, or denouncing of God's 
anger and judgments against sinners. This is 
read the first Sunday in Lent. A form of prayer 
to be used with Thanksgiving on the fifth day of 
November, for the escape of King James L, and 
the three estates of England from the Gunpow- 
der Plot. And one or two other forms of prayer 
to be used on anniversary occasions, in relation 
to the Royal Family. 

All other denominations are called dissenters, 
and their places of worship unendowed or dis- 
senting chapels. Their number is about five and 
a half millions, of which the largest part are 
Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Quakers, 
and Methodists. There are, however, a great 
many professors of all the religions and isms ever 



154 DISSENTERS. 

heard of. The Mormons number about seventeen 
thousand. Before their appearance, Swedenborg 
affirmed himself the divinely authorized agent 
and publisher of a new revelation, and he has 
here about six thousand disciples. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PARKS AND GARDENS. — HYDE PARK. — 

ACHILLES SUBLIMITY AND BUSINESS. — THE 

SERPENTINE— RIDERS. -BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 
—ST. JAMES' PALACE AND PARK. — THE POET 
ROGERS' HOUSE.— REGENT PARK AND AMUSE- 
MENTS.— REY. SURREY AND SPURGEON. 



" Are they not all proofs 
That man, immured in cities, still retains 
His inborn, inextinguishable thirst 
Of rural scenes, compensating his loss 
By supplemental shifts, the best he may.'* 

Cowper's Task. 



If every account which we have concerning 
the gardens of the ancients is true, how passionate 
must have been their feelings towards gardens, 
and how great their " thirst of rural scenes !" 

In America, we talk and read of the plea- 
sures and advantages of beautiful gardens and 
extensive parks, but in order to experience these 
pleasures and advantages, and to bring these gar- 
dens and parks before the physical and not men- 

(155) 



156 GARDENS. 

tal organs of sight, it becomes necessary to ramble 
in foreign climes. 

The city of London, for instance, presents a 
great variety. Beginning with parks of five and 
six hundred acres, and finally arriving at the 
twelve feet by ten garden of the public house, 
at which John Bull stops to take his " pint ov 
af-naf," (half and half) and crust of cheese, 
when at " lunch time," he feels like making a 
few internal improvements. 

Hyde Park is, I believe, the most celebrated 
park in London, although it does not present the 
variety of amusements that do several others. 
Once upon a time, as story books say, Hyde Park 
contained nearly six hundred and twenty-five 
acres, and that by enclosing Kensington gardens, 
about one-half of the park was taken away. Be 
that as it may, the park now contains four hun- 
dred acres. Its name is derived from the old 
manor of Hida, which belonged to the monks of 
St. Peter at Westminster Abbey. It now belongs 
to the crown. On entering at Hyde Park corner, 
by Apsley House, where dwelt the Duke of Well- 
ington, the first object that struck my attention 
was a -colossal statue of Achilles. This was 




Queen Elizabeth's Tomb. 



ACHILLES. 159 

erected to the memory of the Duke of Welling- 
ton, by the ladies of England. It is about twenty 
feet high, and weighs thirty tons. It stands on a 
granite pedestal which bears this inscription : — 

To Arthur Duke of Wellington, 

And His Bkave Companions in Arms, 

This Statue of Achilles, 

cast from Cannon 

Taken in the Victories of 

Salamanca, Victoria, Toulouse, and 

Waterloo, 

is INSCRIBED 

By their Countrywomen. 

Achilles, if writers inform us correctly, was 
once disguised in female apparel by his mother 
and concealed in the ranks of maidens, whether 
under hoops or not we are not informed, at the 
court of Lycomides, in order to escape going to 
the siege of Troy. Ulysses, calling at the court, 
discovered Achilles and compelled him to join 
the regiment. The monument of Achilles erected 
by the English ladies, I hope is not an emblem 
of the taste of those ladies. A man twenty feet 
high, should certainly be enrobed, if not in 



1G0 JOHN BULL. 

female apparel, in something more than one only 
of those leaves, of the kind of which our father 
Adam made himself an apron by sewing many 
together. 

The attitude of the statue though admirable 
is rather questionable. It is said that Achilles 
was invulnerable in every point except the heel 
by which his mother held him when she dipped 
him in the Styx. Even if this was perfectly true, 
is it likely that a man of Achilles' mould would 
engage in war in a state of nudity ? If he would 
not, and if he did not, are not the ladies of Eng- 
land exceedingly culpable in endeavoring to 
destroy his character in this unchristianlike 
manner ? Like Brutus " I pause for a reply." 

The statue is surrounded by an iron railing, 
in front of which lies a large cake of patent cement. 
This is thoroughly John Bull — the sublimest 
work of nature or art in England is connected 
with some monstrous absurdity. Visit West- 
minster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral and in 
sums of a penny and " tupence" one is obliged to 
pay several dollars for seeing the different parts 
— the funds realized being for the support of the 
clergy and poor nobility. This monument of 



THE SEKPENTINE. 161 

Achilles, a great work of art — loses its grandeur 
besides a great cake of patent cement only because 
the cement maker pays for the privilege of placing 
it there! — Verily I believe the crown could be 
bought. This cake of cement is about twelve 
feet by ten, and eight inches thick. It was made 
in a distant county and conveyed to London in its 
present shape, and exhibited at the Crystal Palace 
in 1851. This is one of the curious forms of 
English advertising. Its durability becomes ap- 
parent by years of exposure, and those desiring 
good pavements and solid garden walks have no 
difficulty in ascertaining how and where such can 
be obtained. 

The Serpentine is a very pretty artificial 
stream. It was made in the reign of Queen 
Caroline at her request. When a London winter 
is severe enough to freeze this over it presents a 
very gay scene. I was fortunate enough to spend 
several interesting days on the ice. The London 
ladies are by no means behind the country 
damsels in their love of out-door exercise. And 
the agility with which they can sit down, buckle 
on their skates, and glide away w r ould cause 
many an American amateur to yield his victorious 

U* 



162 EQUIPAGES. 

palms to the fair skaters. The utility and beauty 
of the reel petticoat are very apparent in skating, 
and they are certainly handled by the London 
ladies with as much grace as by their beautiful 
Scotch inventresses. 

The various drives through the park are 
greatly resorted to, and to study the various 
grades of society I know of no way or place that 
presents so anrple an opportunity as do these. 
Yellow painted carriages, denoting the inmates to 
be of the first families of the Aristocracy, with 
ancient drivers, and ancient-looking juvenile 
footmen, buried in gilt buttons and lace, drive 
along, regardless of breaking either the carriage, 
the necks of the horses or the arms of the driver. 
The inmates of these bow very profoundly when 
passing rather a gayer yellow team than their 
own. Then comes the less aristocratic dark-blue. 
The same kind of drivers and footmen. The 
inmates of the yellow nod very graciously to 
those of the blue: blue speaks as ridiculously 
profound to yellow as yellow did to brighter 
yellow. Then comes the rich commoner. Modest 
looking carriage. Fat but still ancient driver; 
pusillanimous footman. Gilt lace and buttons still 



HAUTEUR. 163 

abundant. Yellow carriage could not think of 
recognizing commoner, although yellow was glad 
the day before to succeed in borrowing a thousand 
pounds from commoner. Blue team nods very 
condescendingly to commoner, and commoner 
look after yellow through quizzing glasses ; and 
speaks to blue, making about the same kind of 
bow that the village boys do when they meet 
their parson. Should it be on a Saturday after- 
noon or Sunday, the numbers are tremendously 
increased by the half-holliday or once-a-week- 
men. These are counting house clerks, store 
boys, and all others of this denomination, who 
are very generously allowed as holliday from 
twelve o'clock Saturday (noon) until Monday 
morning for their own recreation. A portion of 
the salary pays for a clarence, or any kind of a 
team. These constitute the independent riders 
of the park. They bow very profoundly to yellow, 
blue, commoner, and everyone else, except only a 
brother gang in a clarence, these do not deign to 
recognize each other. Of course yellow, blue and 
commoner treat clarence with the utmost con- 
tempt, and complain loudly through all public 
mediums of the arrogance and impudence of the 



164 HIDING. 

once-a-week-men. Altogether the teams with 
the thousands of pedestrians and spectators form 
a wild scene of motion and apparently of pleasure. 



" Round, round, and round about they whiz, they fly, 
With eager worrying, whirling here and there, 
They know nor whence, nor whither, where nor why, 
In utter hurry-scurry, going coming 
Maddening the summer air with ceaseless humming.' 



In Hyde Park, stood the first Crystal Palace. 
This was built for the great national exhibition 
of 1851. Almost opposite is Apsley House. At 
the South-east corner of Hyde Park, is a trium- 
phal arch, through which I passed down Consti- 
tution Hill towards Buckingham Palace, (the 
town residence of her Majesty,) and St. James' 
Park. The arch is very magnificent, for a modern 
work of the kind. The top is occupied by another 
statue of Wellington. This is a colossal eques- 
trian statue. Its height about twenty-five feet 
and its weight forty tons. 

St. James' Park was laid out by Henry 
VIII. This park is visited more for its pleasant 
walks through beautiful gardens, where grow 
specimen trees from nearly every country, rather 
than furnishing pleasant rides. A beautiful little 






HYDE PAKK. 165 

river has just been completed. This is of the 
general depth of five feet. The sides and bottom 
are covered with cement. The water can be let 
out at pleasure. The river is very wide, snd 
contains abundance of gold and silver fish. There 
are islands in the stream, and on these, foreign 
and domestic birds in great numbers and variety 
have their homes. Aquatic birds, including some 
very fine swans are well cared for; and have 
become so tame that they w r ill come up the banks 
to eat from the hands of children, who by hun- 
dreds and sometimes thousands are playing in 
the park. 

If Londoners have no yards, they are ade- 
quately compensated for the loss by the large 
parks provided for the public use and pleasure. 

The Horse Guards, and the different instru- 
mental bands of the Queen, are also attractive 
features of St. James'. A general rush is made 
to hear the sacred music of the bands on Sunday 
morning, as they perform about church time. It 
would take an exceedingly delicate ear to detect 
the sacred, part of the sacred music. I once tried 
for fifteen minutes to make some application of 
the sacred part, but eventually discovered that 



166 BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 

the tune was a compound of " Norma," " Keemo, 
Kimo," and " Stop dat knockin'." 

At the West end of the Park, is Bucking- 
ham Palace. The old palace was originally the 
residence of the Duke of Buckingham. It was 
purchased by George III., in 1762. This was 
taken down and rebuilt by George IV. It is 
very showy externally. I did not have an oppor- 
tunity of seeing it internally, as no one is 
admitted on any account, and to enforce this law 
soldiers are stationed at every gate. Several 
attempts have been made, though not lately, to 
take the life of the Queen, hence this precaution. 

St. James' Palace is by no means an attract- 
ive building externally. It is here that the Queen 
holds her " drawing rooms." The palace is mag- 
nificently furnished, and during the Queen's en- 
tertainments, when hundreds of persons, includ- 
ing the beauty of the Court are present, it pre- 
sents an almost matchless scene of grandeur. 

Adjoining St. James' Park are other build- 
ings, not palaces or princely residences, but places 
where abode poets and statesmen. Among these 
the most attractive and entertaining, is the house 
of Samuel Rogers, the author of " The Pleasures 



ROGERS 1 HOUSE. 167 

of Memory." The house is not grand, but there 
is that indefinable something pervading the whole 
that speaks a grand possessor. " If you enter 
his house, his drawing-room, his library, you of 
yourself say, this is not the dwelling of a common 
mind. There is not a gem, a coin, a book thrown 
to one side on his chimnny-piece, his sofa, his 
table that does not bespeak an almost fastidious 
elegance in the owner." 

The house looks like the abode of a great 
poet, and the interior everywhere seems to breathe 
poetry. Here in lively conversation and deep 
debate have met Byron, Campbell, Moore, Scott, 
and other poets, men of art, and musicians, even 
the poor Haydn. From the many statues and 
paintings that are to be seen in every part of the 
house, especially in the entrance-hall and dining- 
room, it is not unlikely that Rogers gained many 
ideas brought forth in the beautiful sentences that 
occur in " The Pleasures of Memory." For in- 
stance, " A Landscape View of his House at 
Richmond Hill," might have suggested, 

" Mark yon old mansion frowning through the trees, 
Whose hollow turret wooes the whistling breeze. 
That casement arch'd with ivy's brownest shade, 
First to these eyes the light of Heaven conveyed, 



168 regent's park. 

The mouldering gateway strews the grass-grown court, 
Once the calm scene of many a simple sport; 
Whon nature pleased, for life itself was new, 
And the heart promised what the fancy drew." 

* & ♦ 

" Now stained with dews, with cobwebs darkly hung, 
Oft has its roof with peals of rapture rung : 
When round yon ample board, in due degree, 
We sweetened every meal with social glee. 
The heart's light laugh pursued the circling jest, 
And all was sunshine in each little breast. 
'Twas here we chased the slipper by the sound, 
And turned the blindfold hero round and round." 

♦ ♦ # 

The portraits of loved friends might have 
inspired him : — 

"And hence that calm delight the portrait gives : 
We gaze on every feature till it lives ! 
Still the fond lover sees the absent maid: 
And the lost friend still lingers in his shade ! 
Say why the pensive widow loves to weep, 
When on her knee she rocks her babe to sleep : 
Tremblingly still, she lifts his veil to trace, 
The father's features in his infant face. 
The hoary grandsire smiles the hour away, 
Won by the raptures of a game at play; 
He bends to meet each artless burst of joy, 
Forgets his age, and acts again the boy." 



To describe the many paintings, relics, stat- 
ues, and costly presents in Rogers' house, would 
be almost an endless task. 

On the side of the city, opposite St. James' 
and Hyde Park, is Regent's Park. This contains 



THE GARDENS. 169 

about four hundred acres. The attractions here, 
are all of an instructive character, and consist of 
the Gardens of the Zoological Societies, the Gar- 
dens of the Royal Botanic Society, and the 
Colosseum. 

The Zoological Gardens were established in 
1825. The arrangement of the animals in classes, 
each class being kept in artificial states as natu- 
ral as art could invent, renders the study of 
animated nature very easy. The hyppopotamus, 
boa constrictors, and African lions, seem as much 
at home as it is possible to conceive they would 
in their native wilds. 

The Botanic Gardens are beautifully laid 
out. Here flourishes every tree, flower, shrub 
and weed, that nature and art combined can 
make grow in British soil. 

The Colosseum is one of the most interesting 
places of amusement in the metropolis. The 
most entertaining object, I found to be the pano- 
rama of " London by moonlight." The panoram- 
ma is stationary, and in order to see it, it is 
necessary to ascend the dome of the Collosseum. 
This is about one hundred and thirty feet high. 

From the gallery around I looked down and 

15 



170 PROMENADE CONCERTS. 

imagined myself conveyed by some supernatural 
power to the top of St. Paul's. This was owing 
to the skill of the artist, who has laid out the 
plan of the panorama from St. Paul's so perfectly, 
that at first sight, I was astonished at my rapid 
voyage from the Colosseum to the Cathedral. 
Every street, steeple, and public building that 
can be seen from the topmost point of St. Paul's 
is easily distinguished in the panorama. The 
next really interesting object was the " Stalactite 
Caverns." The original caverns are at Adelsberg, 
These have been explored about seven miles. The 
imitation in the ground around the Colosseum, is 
said by travellers to be excellent. The countless 
arches, the glistening ceiling of spar, the faint 
noise of dripping water, and the low echoes of the 
flowing river, in imitation of the Poick, which 
flows through the Adelsberg caverns, all render 
the illusion complete. The rays shed upon the 
walls and ceiling from the torches add to the dim 
feelings of mystery of the invader. 

The promenade concerts held in the large 
hall of the Colosseum, are not only extensively 
got up, but what does not always follow are 
extensively patronized. 



VICTOBIA PARK. 171 

Victoria Park, is but a recent addition to the 
pleasure of the plebs. This is in the east end, 
and being but newly laid out, is not very attract- 
ive, save only on Sunday morning, while the 
band is discoursing sacred music. 

The Gardens of London are of three kinds. 
Public, amusement, (where one is admitted by 
ticket), and the gardens attached to almost every 
public house, in which the people congregate 
during the Spring, Summer and Fall, to drink 
and smoke. Of the first kind, Kew Gardens are 
undoubtedly the greatest. I found no gardens in 
or around London pleasanter than Kew. In the 
gardens the same variety of flowers exists as in 
Regent's Park. The favorite palace of George 
III., was here, and is kept still in a thorough 
state of repair, although royalty no longer here has 
its abode. The palace is small, but very pic- 
turesque, and reminded me forcibly of the 
descriptions of England's " hospitable homes,'' 
so often given by travellers, but in reality, so 
seldom met with. Here were educated the two 
sons of George III. ; by name George IV., and 
the Duke of York. The Queen's garden just 
behind the palace, is still shown as the ground 



172 KEW GAKDEN3. 

tilled by the Royal buds. Here, it is said, they 
sowed the grain, reaped and threshed it, ground 
it, sifted the flour, kneaded the dough, baked the 
bread, and when their parents came to take tea, 
presented them with the first-fruits of their first 
labor. In the collection of trees and plants, 
America is nowhere forgotten. The tall trees 
from California attract the greatest amount of 
attention. One of these was planted when very 
young in Kew, and has flourished in Britain's 
changeable climate, to a wonderful extent. There 
are a great many ornamental buildings through 
the gardens, the most important of which are the 
orangery, the palm-house, the museum, and the 
great pagoda. The pagoda is built in imitation 
of the Chinese Taa. It is about one hundred and 
eighty feet high. The lower story is forty-nine 
feet in diameter, each story above, diminishing in 
diameter and height one foot. The pagoda pos- 
sesses but little beauty, owing to the meagre 
manner in which it was built. A pagoda, to 
claim any admiration, should possess some of the 
" oriental gilt gingerbread," of the Chinese pa- 
godas. There are a number of small temples 
erected to different mythological deities, of which 



SUKKEY. 173 

the Pantheon is the most beautiful. In the 
interior of this, there are eighteen tablets in com- 
memoration of victories achieved by the British 
armies between 1760, and 1815. There are busts 
also of George III., George IV., William IV., 
and the Duke of Wellington. 

Next to the public gardens of Kew come the 
gardens of amusement of which Surrey under 
the guardianship of Mons. Jullien stands ahead. 
Surrey is in every sense of the word a garden of 
amusement. The entertainment begins on Mon- 
day morning and is kept up until Sunday night. 
Entrance is obtained by ticket at one shilling 
each person. Although the admission is so little 
the entertainment is great, and often ten thousand 
persons participate in the revelry. Some hours 
through the day the gardens are open only to 
nurses and children. The principal performances 
begin about dark. The first duty consists in 
refreshing the inner man at some of the refresh- 
ment tables which are scattered every where 
through the gardens. This can easily be done by 
making a telegraphic signal to one of the black 
coat, black pant, black vest and white cravat 

gentry, who ever on the lookout for his doceur is 

15* 



174 jullien's concerts 

simultaneously on the lookout to serve the " gen- 
tleman hand lady." Whatever is called for if it 
be in the eating or drinking line can be obtained. 
Having performed this operation entirely to the 
satisfaction of all concerned, the band (Jullien's 
celebrated) prepares to allow all that desire to 
engage ina dance to do so. This is kept up in lively 
manner for some time, when the band retires to 
the Concert Hall, leaving only a few violinists to 
play for those who would rather dance than 
listen to the Concert. This Concert Hall is a 
tremendous establishment. It holds many thou- 
sands and is nightly filled with the gay of the city. 
The galleries, four in number, are arranged in 
rather an irregular order one above the other 
supported by stone columns. The attractive 
feature of Jullien's concerts for some time have 
been Mdlls. Grisi and Alboni and Miss Poole. 
This Hall is a fair example of the " life and 
death, the bane and antidote," that the poet talks 
of. The crowd assembles to drink wine, and beer, 
to dance, play cards and carry on all kinds of 
games until twelve o'clock Saturday night. 
Again it assembles on Sunday to hear the 
celebrated Rev. Spurgeon preach everlasting de- 



SPUHGEON. 175 

struction to all sinners. On Sunday the crowd is 
greatly increased by the curious Dukes, Duchesses, 
Lords and others whom Spurgeon's wrathful 
denunciations occasionally reach. From twenty 
to twenty-five thousand persons assemble at 
Surrey Hall every Sunday morning to hear him. 
He is one of London's two hundred and fifty 
independent preachers. Of these two hundred 
and fifty about thirty belong to that class 
denominated " popular preachers.' 7 I have heard 
about fifteen and did not like any. They all 
possess some eccentricity bordering on the dis- 
agreeable. I do not see how the one in question 
ever attained his present degree of popularity. 
He possesses considerable animation but is any- 
thing rather than eloquent. I have frequently 
heard itinerent illiterate African brethren at a 
genuine African camp meeting, who could with a 
much surer title lay claim to eloquence. He 
indulges very much in practical demonstrations. 
His favorite ones are, first, he knocks a tumbler 
on the floor, in order to crack it. Then he shows 
the tumbler to be imperfect because it has a 
crack in it, and says, it could not be any 
more imperfect if broke in a thousand pieces, 



176 SPORTS. 

and adds that a person who breaks one of the 
laws is guilty of the whole as much so as the 
entire tumbler is imperfect. Second, he makes a 
terrible leap from the pulpit to the floor of the 
Hall and says the sinner falls from grace that 
rapidly and easily, he then climbs up again in- 
stead of going up the pulpit stairs, and declares 
that it is just so hard for a sinner having fallen 
from grace to climb up into favor again. His 
other demonstrations are about as homely as that 
of the African preacher when he was exhorting 
his followers to attend more regularly at the 
sanctuary. " Bredern ef you donH you'll all be 
lost, jus so sure 's I kill dat fly." At the same 
time bringing his hand down ferociously on a poor 
specimen of that genus on the desk before him. 
Raising his hand he exclaimed, " Dere, by golly, 
I'semiss'd him and konsequontly your all saved." 
Besides the " sports," enumerated at the 
Surrey, balloons are ascending every moment, 
there are boat rides out on the fancy ponds, there 
are hermit's cells to visit, Venetian serenades, 
and everywhere, on every side, nothing is heard 
but music, laughing, and merry talking, with the 
rushing and hissing of fireworks. Nothing is 



FLOWERS. 177 

seen but joy and animation, though these are 
often but the indices of sorrow and wretchedness 
at heart The performances conclude each night 
between twelve and one, with a grand display of 
fireworks. 

There are many other gardens of like nature, 
including the celebrated Cremorne, and that, to 
American captains and seamen, well-known spot 
called the " Eagle." Theatres, and "American 
Bowling Alleys," are attached to these. This is 
the only point in which they differ from Surrey K 
unless I except the good music and " first-class," 
refreshments. Flowers and creeping vines are 
cultivated, fountains dash their sparkling waters 
high in the air, and in the flame of many thou- 
sand gas-lights which illumine every garden, 
these flowers and fountains appear singularly 
beautiful. 

" The vino 
Mantles the little casement; yet the brier 
Drops fragrant dew among the July flowers* 
And pannies rayed, and freaked and mottled pinks, 
Grow among balm, and rosemary and rue • 
There honeysuckles flaunt, and roses blow 
Almost uncultured ; some with dark green leaves, 
Contrast their flowers of pure unsullied white ; 
Others like velvet robes of regal state, 
Of richest crimson ; while in thorny moss, 
Enshrined and cradled, the most lovely wear, 
The hues of youthful beauty's glowing cheek." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CRYSTAL PALACE— JOHN BULL'S IN- 
CONSISTENCY. — PLEASURE GROUNDS OF THE 
PALACE.— WATER TEMPLES. —THE PRE-AD AM- 
ITE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH.— ARRANGE- 
MENTS FOR THE COMFORT OF VISITORS.— GAL- 
LERY STORES AND STATUARY. 

John Bull is a singularly inconsistent kind 
of an animal. If a servant cheats him of a 
penny, or a poor omnibus conductor or cab driver 
overcharges him "threpence," John without 
hesitation, consigns the offender to — perdition — 
or jail, and the poor fellow's family to the work- 
house, and then pays annually a large tax for the 
support of jails and workhouses. But if some 
great excitement is set on foot, the grander the 
scheme the better, John, also without hesitation, 
engages in it to the tune of thousands or hun- 
dreds of thousands. In fact, excitement, provided 

it is of the expensive kind, is becoming an abso- 

(1TO) 



SECOND CRYSTAL PALACE. 179 

lute necessity of John's existence. Modern, very 
modern days have witnessed some of his greatest 
efforts in this line. The first Crystal Palace, for 
the exhibition of the industry of all nations, made 
London for one season the great centre of fashion, 
of beauty, and of joy, of the whole civilized world. 
Next came the Russian War. Here the officers 
of John's army, w r ho, in general are appointed on 
account of their titles and not merits, found out 
the great difference existing between " playing 
soldier," in caps and feathers through the streets 
of London, and meeting with men as soldiers in 
" battle array." Then came the extant Crystal 
Palace, with its long list of amusements and 
strange excitement. And still later a " big ship," 
Indian mutinies, and a Royal w r edding, have 
engrossed the attention. Certainly, to use a very 
domestic illustration, England can be likened 
to the 



" Old woman that lived in a shoe, 
She had so many children/' &c. 



The first Crystal Palace, although " a thing 
of beauty," w r as not " a joy forever." It has 
passed away, and not a trace is left to mark the 



180 BIG SHIP. 

spot where once it stood. The Russian War, 
John undertook, like the house-builder, in the 
Bible, "without sitting down first and counting 
the cost." He ultimately submitted to taxation, 
and all that he could not raise thus he borrowed, 
so that finally he was enabled to square up. 

That " big ship," if it ever should get into 
its " native element," may probably turn out 
successful — yet, it is very possible that it will not. 
The Indian mutinies, it is said, are about over. 
If so, the governors of India can again assemble 
in Leadenhall street, many thousand miles from 
India, fold their arms, and wait patiently for 
another outbreak. The great wedding w T as un- 
doubtedly a pretty affair. But it is only the first 
edition. Many others are likely to follow on the 
same subject by the same authors. The extant 
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, will afford excite- 
ment and pleasure as long as the iron pillars and 
girders will support its Crystal walls. Of the 
Palace, I will not give its various dimensions for 
these would probably prove incomprehensible 
from the fact that the building is rather irregular. 
Suffice it to say, that the extreme length is nearly 
two thousand feet, the height of the middle tran- 




Naval Gallery. - Painted II 



PENGE PARK. 183 

sept two hundred and twenty feet, and the span 
of the middle transept arch, one hundred and 
twenty-five feet. Penge Park, in which the 
Palace is built, is several miles from London, and 
connected with the city by a railroad. About two 
hundred and twenty acres of the Park are laid 
out and enclosed, thus forming the pleasure 
grounds of the Palace. The ground from the 
foot of the Palace towards the front, descends in 
precipitous slopes about two hundred feet. To 
remedy the roughness, several Italian Terraces 
have been erected. The terraces are fronted with 
stone, finely sculptured and arched. Each ter- 
race has several flights of stone steps connecting 
with other terraces, or with the Palace. On all 
sides are magnificent sloping banks and beds of 
turf and flowers of rare shapes and beauty. The 
arrangement of the flowers is novel and unimagi- 
nably beautiful. Flowers of one kind and color 
are planted together, in beds from eight to ten 
feet square, so thickly, that not a particle of soil 
is seen. Consequently, looking down on the 
ground from the upper terrace, the whole surface 
appears like one rich carpet of immense figures 
and costly material. Statues and marble vases 



184 WATEE TEMPLES. 

filled with flowers are scattered profusely through 
the park. Cascades, fountains, and water tem- 
ples send forth their glittering streams, filling the 
air with melodious murmurings. These mingled 
with the perfumes of flowers from all climes ; the 
warbling of every species of singing birds, that 
have their homes in the beautiful houses prepared 
for them on all sides ; the hum of thousands of 
human voices, and the tread of thousands of feet, 
all form a scene rather like the fabulous land- 
scapes of fairy tales, than anything that possibly 
could be conceived of as reality. 

There are two water temples that I admired 
more than I did any other portion of the water 
works, although the great fountains in the Palace 
seem to attract most of the general attention. 
The two temples are on opposite sides of the 
main flight of stone steps leading to the terraces. 
Each stands in the centre of an octagonal pond 
and like the pond is octagonal with a dome roof. 
In height, each temple is about twenty-five feet, 
in diameter about fifteen. At each of the eight 
corners of the the bases, is an iron column that 
supports the roof, and is similar to the frame- 
work of the Palace. The temples instead of hav- 



THE ROSERY. 185 

ing glass walls have walls of water, formed by 
thin, descending sheets of water from the roof. 
Festoons of running vines cover the columns, and 
when the sun shines on their spray-sprinkled 
leaves and flowers, the whole appears like some 
vast article of diamond set jewelry. Of the 
remaining ornamental buildings through the 
grounds, the Rosery is the most important. This 
is nothing but an immense dome-shaped arbor, 
covered entirely with roses, standing on a high 
cone, with stone steps leading to the shady re- 
treats within. 

There is one thing about the lower end of 
the ground that I thought rather preposterous, 
nay, superlatively ridiculous. This may be all 
right,- and I may not possess enough common 
sense to appreciate it, or it may be all wrong. I 
allude to various artificial specimens of defunct 
animated nature, intended to ornament, but which 
in reality, deform the ponds in that portion of the 
grounds. Why did not the learned geologists 
who placed them there, post up for the public 
good, descriptions of their existence with all the 
wherefores, hows and whys ? It is well enough 
to talk concerning Primary, Transition, Secondary, 

16* 



186 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 

Tertiary, and Alluvial strata, and fossil remains, 
and great bones of extinct animals in the British 
Museum, and many other things of like nature. 
These are all evident enough. Common sense 
can grasp and retain all these. But when I am 
told that these fossil remains taken from these 
different strata, and these great bones, belonged 
to animals resembling in size, shape, and appear- 
ance those works of ornament in Penge Park, I 
think I will throw myself upon my right of be- 
lieving as much as I desire and no more. If these 
animals did live, move and have being, it must 
have been just after that very indefinite time 
mentioned in the first verse of the first chapter 
of Genesis, " In the beginning." But their re- 
presentations are visible in the grounds of the 
Crystal Palace, and I will attempt as adequately 
as possible to describe one or two. Those de- 
scribed, will be only from among the medium 
specimens — as I should not like to say much con- 
cerning the greatest, for fear of exposing the 
humbugism existing among some of the Crystal 
Palace company. 

After almost breaking my neck to get on the 
antediluvian-looking island on which these crea- 



THE IGUANODON. 187 

tures abide, I suddenly found myself entirely 
surrounded by the monsters. Some were stand- 
ing, some squatting, some lying down, and one 
monstrous monster was standing on his hind feet, 
his fore legs around the upper part of the trunk 
of an immense tree, and his head quietly repos- 
ing on the topmost branches. 

0#e of these animals is called the Iguanodon. 
It is said that the fossil remains from which the 
geologists imagined and manufactured this, were 
dug from the upper layer of the secondary strata. 
The length of the Iguanodon was said to be one 
hundred feet, or about ten times as large as an 
elephant. The geologists of the Crystal Palace, 
whatever they might have believed very pru- 
dently for their own reputation munufactured this 
specimen only thirty- five feet long, and propor- 
tionally broad. The Iguanodon is a vegetarian 
lizard, and this one is represented feeding on 
vegetables, the leaves of which are one foot thick, 
and proportionally long and broad, resembling a 
cabbage leaf. Probably the plant was an ante- 
diluvian cabbage. Some idea of the size of this 
monster may be formed from the amount of ma- 
terial used in his construction. " Four iron 



188 STRUCTURE OF THE PALACE. 

columns — 9 feet long by 7 inches in diameter, 
600 bricks, 650 5-inch half round drain-tiles, 
900 plain tiles, 38 casks of cement, 90 casks of 
broken stone (making a total of 640 bushels of 
artificial stone.) These with 100 feet of iron- 
hooping, and 20 feet of cube-inch bar, constitute 
the bones, sinews and muscles of this large model, 
the largest of which there is any record of a cast- 
ing being made." 

The Ichthyosaurus is rather an indescribable 
animal. It has a head like a lizard, with its 
mouth oj3en, shewing several rows of horrid teeth, 
and its body seems a combination of whale, por- 
poise and mud-turtle. In its habits, I should say 
it was decidedly swinish. It is wallowing in the 
mire, covered with slime and trickling water, and 
appears about as horrible as the ingenuity of man 
could make it. Its length is about thirty- 
two feet. 

Having thus seen every part of the grounds, 
I commenced my observations of the Palace. 
The frame-work of this consists entirely of iron 
columns, ranged row above row, and secured by 
arched girders, and lattice work of crossed iron 
bars. These columns extend throughout the 



HEATING APPARATUS. 180 

length and breadth of the building, thus forming 
aisles and courts within. The walls and roof are 
of glass supported by the iron columns and light 
wooden sash. The first floor of the Palace is 
occupied with machinery of different kinds, in- 
cluding the heating apparatus which is so adjusted 
that one portion of the Palace is exceedingly hot 
while another may be kept very cool. This is, 
of course, to keep the plants of different climates 
as near as possible in their native conditions. 
The real internal beauties of the Palace begin to 
appear as the floor above is reached. Then bursts 
suddenly on the sight, long rows of columns cov- 
ered with vines and flowers ; w r ire baskets hanging 
from the numberless galleries from which stream 
forth hanging plants producing all kinds, sizes 
and colors of flowers ; the girders covered with 
strange plants ; trees, including the stately date- 
palm, warding off the sun's bright rays; the 
glistening of white statuary ; the gay plumage of 
foreign birds, and crowds of light-hearted, mirth- 
loving people from all quarters of the globe. The 
foreign courts are the most interesting and at- 
tractive features of the exhibition ; and desiring 
to devote some time and attention to these, I found 



190 WASH ROOM. 

sufficient other material to consume the remainder 
of the first day. To go over the Park and Palace 
in one day would be impossible. Scarcely an idea 
of the vast exhibition could be gained in that 
time. 

The arrangements made for the comfort of 
visitors are complete. Immediately on entering 
the park, an entrance is found leading to the 
" Wash Rooms." Here are servants, paid by the 
establishment, whose duties consist in brushing 
the visitor's clothes, boots and hat, in supplying 
towels, and in making themselves generally use- 
ful. Ladies are equally well cared for in a sepa- 
rate suite of rooms. This is, I believe a London 
idea. Certainly, I never heard of it before. The 
plan would, if successfully carried out in sundry 
American exhibitions, prove a great improvement 
and luxury. Cattle and agricultural shows need 
it— and at camp-meeting, its advantages would 
be incalculable. Sermons would not have so 
much dust to cut through before reaching the 
heart. Then the " Refreshment Rooms," are 
w r ell supplied ; and thus, the outer and inner man 
in a perfect state of comfort, one can ramble at 
will up, down, or across, with great pleasure. 



GALLERIES. 191 

The galleries of the Palace are occupied only 
as stores. These are all branch establishments 
of the city stores. The articles here on sale, 
must be of the best material and workmanship. 
JNTo difference how common the article, if it is 
only a toothpick, it cannot be sold in the Crystal 
Palace unless well made. These gallery stores 
or stalls pay to the Crystal Palace Company, an 
annual rent of about two hundred thousand dol- 
lars. The carriages, jewelry, philosophical in- 
struments and paintings, exposed for sale, are 
particularly beautiful. The list of prices is con- 
siderably more reasonable than would be imagined* 
The statuary of the Palace is mostly in imitation 
of the original. They are only of plaster of 
Paris — made by the best artists. The celebrated 
Courts are also works of imitation. The manner 
in which this was accomplished, was simply by 
sending persons of sufficient judgment to foreign 
countries to hunt up objects of especial interest. 
How faithfully those persons performed their 
duties, the magnificent Courts of Rome, Egypt, 
the Alhambra and others will bear testimony. 
The statuary embraces every class and description 
of that art. The great men of the world in form 



192 STATUARY. 

and feature are presented to the observation. 
Here is man in every state, from the grinning, 
hideous savage, to that One, human, yet divine. 
The deities of Mythology are here, in all the 
characters of war, of storm, of peace, and of love 
ascribed to them. On one hand stands the un- 
taught barbarian, on the other, the polished 
scholar of Athens. Beside the slow, apparently 
frozen Laplander, dances in merry defiance of 
time and weather, a native of the French Me- 
tropolis. 

The relation which sculpture bears to paint- 
ing, can be easily studied and well learned in the 
Crystal Palace. Here, sculpture shows forth 
organic form in its perfection, nothing is unde- 
fined — nothing is wanting — while painting gives 
the mere appearance. Stationery objects, and 
those possessed of volition, sculpture brings out 
in full power, leaving painting to supply the sea, 
the skies and other transient objects. 



CHAPTER X. 

COURTS OF THE CRYSTAL PALACE.— THE 
COURT OF THE ALHAMBRA. — THE EGYPTIAN 
COURT. — THE TOMB OF ABOUSAIMBUL. — THE 
GREEK AND ROMAN COURTS.— HINDOO LAWS OF 
ARCHITECTURE. — THE APOLLO BELYIDERE.— 
THE POMPEIAN COURT. — HERCULANEUM AND 
POMPEII. — THE NINEVAH COURT.— BYZANTINE 
COURT. — THE MEDIEVAL COURT. — NUBIAN 
COURT. — THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE, AND 
INDUSTRIAL COURT. 

" A Gothic Cathedral has been called a petri- 
fied religion — the Alhambra may be called a 
petrified Eastern poem." 

Certainly, to describe in detail and accurately 
this gorgeous ruin, would be beyond the power 
of man. Thirty years ago, it was Washington 
Irving's fortunate lot to spend several months 
within its walls. He has given us many legends 
concerning it, but no description, however slight, 

17 (193) 



1.94 THE ALHAMBRA. 

upon which in imagination, we can build up this 
monument of luxury and peaceful enjoyment of 
the ancient Governors of Granada. Proud, yet 
deserted, it stands on its rocky bed, on the moun- 
tains of Sierra Nevada, in its desertion and decay 
surpassing the most magnificent palaces of earth , 
defying in its beauty all rivalship, save only from 
the sunny skies of Spain. 

The fortress was commenced in the thirteenth 
century by Muhamed Abu Alahmar. He spent 
great time, care, and wealth on it, but it was not 
completed for more than a century later; con- 
suming in its course of erection the entire estates 
of Muhamed's XL, and III., and was at length 
completed by Yusef Abul Hagig. In its earliest 
days, it was a fortress, capable of holding within 
its walls forty thousand soldiers. It then ap- 
peared undoubtedly, in the brightness and order 
ascribed to it by various writers, and as it is 
represented by the small portions in the Crystal 
Palace. Then its tessellated floors formed no 
garden of weeds ; then the fine carvings and 
gilding on its walls were fresh ; then the many 
fountains that played in its courts, added their 
murmurings to the sound of the music of the 



COURT OF LIONS. 195 

love-breathing voices of the bright-eyed damsels 
of the Harem, accompanied by the guitar and 
castanets. But the brightness of the once glori- 
ous dream has departed, only the faintly glim- 
mering shadow of what it was remains. Its beau- 
tiful gardens, cultivated by the fairy hands of the 
Alhambra's inmates are destroyed ; the fountains 
have ceased to play ; time, the all-changing, has 
laid his hand violently upon the sculptured mar- 
ble walls; its builders and inmates have all 
passed away ; and the building so rich, so large, 
so grand, is but the sheltering place of beggars 
and robbers. " Alas, for the Alhambra." 

The two portions of the Alhambra, chosen 
for examples of the architecture by the Palace 
Company, was the Court of Lions, and the Hall 
of Justice. " On the Court of Lions," Irving 
says, " The hand of time has fallen the lightest, 
and the traces of Moorish elegance and splendor 
exist in almost their original brilliancy." Hence, 
I suppose the object in view, in choosing that for 
a specimen. The Court consists of a wall, which 
to the height of five feet, is built of polished tiles, 
and faced externally with stone. The tiles are 
of black, white, blue, scarlet, green and other 



196 HALL OF THE ABENCERRAGES. 

shades. These are crossed by a fine lattice work, 
of which each intersection of the bars is concealed 
under a lozenge-shaped ornament of red. Around 
the wall, some feet above the tiles, is a beautiful 
cornice, under which is emblazoned the shields of 
the ancient Moorish Kings, knights and chief 
men. These are surrounded by the names of the 
kings, religious sentences, and short legendary 
tales. The arches are large, fretted and horse- 
shoe shaped. One of these arches in the original 
forms the entrance to the Hall of the Abencer- 
rages. The Hall should certainly have been 
added to the exhibition. The interest manifested 
in the blood-stained fountain, near which the 
Abencerrages were murdered is very great. How 
exciting it is here to walk through the dim 
dreamy spot, and fancy one hears the clanking 
chains, the low groans, and wails of agony made 
by the spirits of the murdered ! 

A beautiful colonnade runs around the Court, 
formed of very slender, perfectly white columns. 
Smaller columns also support small arches along 
the wall between the cornice and the tiles. The 
ceiling is flat, and consists of a gilded ground, 
ornamented with red and blue stars, and bordered 



COURT OF LICKS. 197 

with white. This is the ceiling of the colonnade. 
The Court is open. The capitals of all the col- 
umns are ornamented richly with gilded leaves, 
flowers, and scrolls bearing short Arabic sen- 
tences, ascribing glory to God and the Sultan. 

On two sides of the Hall of Two Sisters, 
connected with the Court, are low arches not 
more than two and a half feet high. In the 
original, these are latticed, but in the imitation 
they are entirely open. Cushions are in front of 
each arch, and on these once reclined the beauties 
of the Harem, who were allowed to see without 
being seen, all that took place without. The Hall 
is faintly lighted by a small dome of stained 
glass. An especial object of interest in the Court 
of Lions, is the great central fountain. This is 
of the finest white marble, and has twelve sides 
supported by the same number of lions, or at 
least, by some things that are called lions. I 
know they are intended for lions, but if such 
lions ever did exist, it must have been cotempo- 
raneous with the animals in the lower part of the 
grounds. They are sans joints, sans paws, by no 
means sans manes, and appear like very pleasant 

lions. 

It* 



198 HALL OF JUSTICE. 

The fountain has two basins, one supported 
above the other by several small columns. The 
lower basin is much the largest, and around it is 
the inscription : — 

" Blessed is he, who gave the Sultan Mo- 
hamed a mansion, which in beauty exceeds all 
other mansions. Look at this solid mass of pearl 
glistening all around, and spreading through the 
air, its showers of prismatic bubbles, which fall 
within a circle of silvery froth, and then flow 
amidst other jewels surpassing everything in 
beauty — nay, exceeding the marble itself in white- 
ness and transparency. Seest thou not how the 
water (from above) flows on the surface, notwith- 
standing the current underneath strives to oppose 
its progress; like a lover, whose eye-lids are 
pregnant with tears, and who suppresses them for 
fear of an informer. (9, thou who beholdest these 
lions couching, fear not. Life is wanting to enable 
them to show their fury." That last clause is 
very apparent. 

The Hall of Justice, is also entered through 
one of the predominant horse shoe arches. The 
Hall is not as beautifully built as is the Court. 
The same feelings of gloom hang over the visitor, 



HALL OF THE ABENCERRAGES. L99 

and the same appearance of luxuriance living is 
noted. Boabdil, surnamed " el Logoybi," the 
unlucky, was the last Moslem Governor of the 
Alhambra. He surrendered it to Ferdinand and 
Isabella. The Moors still think, had he not 
done so, the Alhambra would yet continue the 
property of the Moslems. They accuse him of 
committing many crimes, including cruelty to his 
Queen ; the murder of the Abencerrages, before 
alluded to, thirty- six of whom were beheaded in 
the Court of Lions ; and traitorously surrender- 
ing the fortress. Irving says, " as far as these,'' 
(the accusations) " can be traced, they appear to 
have been the acts of his father, Aben Hassan, 
who is represented by both Christian and Arabian 
chroniclers, as being of a cruel and ferocious na- 
ture. It was he who put to death the cavaliers 
of the illustrious line of the Abencerrages, upon 
suspicion of their being engaged in a conspiracy 
to dispossess him of his throne." If this is true, 
how very appropriate was the surname of Boab- 
dil ! Who is more worth v the name of " the 
unlucky," than he who is accused of crimes he 
never imagined ! Accounts of which are handed 
down to posterity, with all the alterations and 



200 THE ALHAMBRA. 

additions which a gossiping people can and do 
make. Or of whose crimes, as in the case of 
Boabdil, the accounts " have passed into ballads, 
dramas and romances, until they have taken too 
thorough possession of the public mind to be 
eradicated." 

Between the Court of Lions and the Hall of 
Justice are several bas-reliefs from the Capella- 
de-los-Reyos. The most singular of these is a 
representation of poor Boabdil, presenting the 
keys of his loved Alhambra to Ferdinand and 
Isabella who have advanced to him at the head 
of armed troops. How easy it is to imagine the 
scene ! With drooping head, and tread slow and 
measured, his little garrison following with heads 
uncovered, humbly he surrenders that spot so 
long his mansion " surpassing in beauty all other 
mansions." With sorrow he looks back on its 
towers and gilded walls, gloriously shining in the 
rays of the sun of Spain ; and feels like the man 
leaving for the last time and forever the paternal 
roof, where he had spent the " happy, happy hours 
of childhood." Then to his grief add the bitter 
reproach of his mother. " You do well, to weep 
as a woman over what you could not defend as a 



MOORISH ARCHITECTURE. 201 

man." Alas poor Zoabdil el Bogoybi. "Alas 
for the Alhambra ! ■? 

Following the Moors through their many 
ages ; finding them by nature a rough hardy set 
of men accustomed wherever they might be to 
render that spot their home ; there pitching their 
tents in defiance of every change of weather, 
or of ferocious tribes, we cannot much wonder at 
the magnificence of their buildings, when having 
conquered many cities they studied the different 
orders of architecture thrown in their way. 
Egypt's pyramidal style was too dull and heavy. 
Greece's pillars were too thick and disproportion- 
ate. Of all styles there w r as none to suit the 
Moor, so from all he carved out one to suit 
himself. And behold it — the Alhambra, Beside 
it the imagined palaces of fairy land sink into the 
insignificance of hovels. The brightest ray that 
fell from Aladdin's lamp shone not half so bright. 
Concerning it— no wonder many legends remain 
among the legend-loving Granadians, and no 
wonder that with it they associate the ideas of 
magii concealed in the folds of wonder-working 
cloaks, divining where lay concealed untold sums 
of gold wherewith to erect it. 



202 REFLECTIONS. 

If all this effulgence is shed by the small 
portion of the Alhambra in the Crystal Palace what 
must be the original ? What delight to behold 
it, to walk through its Tower of Comares, its 
Balcony, its Hall of the Sisters and of the Aben- 
cerrages, its Tower of las-Infantas with all of its 
courts and gardens ! To see it by moonlight ! 
To listen to distant sounds of the guitar and 
castanets ! To hear from the lips of the Moors, 
co-descendants the legend of the " Rose of the 
Alhambra," of the "Discreet Statues," the "Moors' 
Legacy " and of the " Arabian Astrologer " in 
addition to the many others! To wander at 
nightfall into its inmost recesses, to hear the 
screeching owl as it 

" Does to the moon complain 
Of such as, wandering to her secret bower, 
Molest her ancient solitary reign." 

To study the Arabic inscriptions on its pol- 
ished walls ; or to ramble on the highest peaks 
of the Sierra Nevada and watch the glorious 
vie^y presented by a sunset in Spain, 



crystal palace. 203 

The Egyptian Court. 

" On entering one cannot fail to experience 
the peculiar emotion produced by Egyptian 
architecture ; a feeling of gloomy sublimity, which 
awes rather than elevates, and which to the 
ordinary spectator is greatly heightened by the 
sculptures and hieroglyphics which everywhere 
cover the walls, in mute, mysterious meaning, 
leading back our thoughts to the recondite religious 
ideas which they symbolize, and inspiring a deep 
and almost trembling curiosity as to the rites 
which were celebrated in the recesses of these 
soul-subduing temples. The flat roof in its dusky 
obscurity, and the grand portal of simple and 
heavy proportions, with the inner chambers 
receding into utter darkness, add to the effect of 
this first impression." Bartlett. 

If the Moors were the gayest and most 
complicate of builders, the Egyptians were the 
plainest, although of this, the gaudy coloring and 
decoration everywhere visible on Egyptian build- 
ings would apparently be a contradiction. The 
Moor took the most magnificent specimens of 



204 HALL OF KAEiNTAC. 

architecture chance threw in his way and there- 
from formed his design. The Egyptians on the 
contrary, formed his buildings from the mouutains, 
or gigantic rocks. From the palm tree he shaped 
his columns, and for the capitals he took the buds 
and flowers of the lotus. From the entrances of 
dens and caverns in the earth he formed his 
doorways. He built his walls thick and pyramidal, 
his ceilings and roofs flat and heavy, his cornices 
immense. If he ornamented with sculpture and 
desired to place the statue of some great man of 
his country in a conspicuous place, it was only 
necessary to carve out anything in an upright 
position with two arms, two legs, and a head. 
This demonstrated a man, and hieroglyphics told 
who and what manner of man he was. 

The pyramid might properly be called the 
emblem of Egyptian architecture, Repose, so- 
lidity, durability and tremendous strength its 
characteristics. 

The Hall of Karnac as being the best 
specimen of the architecture of Egypt in general, 
and the Tomb of Abousaimbul of tombs, are the 
two examples exhibited in the Crystal Palace. 
The Hall of Karnac is, by travellers, said to be 









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JL— ,ii' r '■pJa 




[P ~™ ~ TJJiSif 




teem ii R 




1 t31 H 





H 



EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. 207 

the most striking feature of Thebes now remaining. 
The Hall in the original measures three hundred 
and twenty-nine feet by one hundred and seventy. 
It is supported by twelve columns, about seventy 
feet high, and twelve in diameter, in addition to 
one hundred and twenty- two smaller columns. 
Its representation at Sydenham is of course greatly 
inferior in size. The Hall is over three thousand 
years old, and, unlike many temples that are 
known to have been built cotemporaneously, is in 
ruins. The bases of the columns are buried 
among the fallen fragments of the roof and a 
superincumbent mass of earth. Jackals have 
their abode in the ruins, and bats flit everywhere 
through the labyrinthine colonnade. The statues 
of monarchs and deities here are thought to be 
the best in Egypt. The entrance to the Egyptian 
Courts is (I believe from paintings of the Tem- 
ple of Edfon I have seen) decorated with the 
front of that Temple. This consists of six pillars 
supporting a heavy cornice and roof; pyramidal 
doorway open at the top ; the spaces between the 
columns closed with slabs containing historic sen- 
tences in hieroglyphic writing. 

The Court is entered through a colonnade of 



208 TOMB OF ABOUSAMEUL. 

immense pillars, on rounded bases which bulge 
out, thus appearing as if the immense weight had 
flattened them. The capitals of these pillars are 
buds and flowers of the lotus tree, placed in alter- 
nate order. The pillars generally are of white, 
covered with hieroglyphics of red, green, black, 
and other colors. The roof — which presents a 
very heavy appearance, is pannelled and covered 
with the all-abounding gaudy hieroglyphics, red 
vultures, and the holy beetles of Egypt. Before 
the entrance, is an avenue bordered with couchant 
lions of singular shape and docile demeanor. The 
interior of the court presents but little beyond 
columns and antique statuary. 

Tho tomb of Abousambul is west from the 
court. There is nothing peculiarly remarkable 
about this, more than there is about Egyptian 
tombs generally. They all bear witness to 
Egypt's former grandeur. An ancient writer 
remarked, that the Egyptians spent more time 
and wealth on their tombs than on their houses. 
And it is not a little remarkable that on these 
tombs nothing is said of death, and in no manner 
is death represented. On the contrary — those 
buried are represented as they were in life. Eat- 



REFLECTIONS. 209 

ing, drinking, at assemblies, and pursuing their 
various avocations. With the laboring man were 
entombed all the instruments with which he 
worked during life. He was buried without a 
coffin, but was carefully embalmed. Whole 
cemeteries of the embalmed poor are said yet to 
be in existence. 

With the monarch was buried his jewels and 
sceptre, his marble vases and costly furniture. 
He was embalmed, and laid in a sarcophagus 
carefully sealed, with all of his virtues inscribed 
in gaudy hieroglyphics. 

Antiquarians have pursued their researches 
so zealously, that the poor have been left in peace, 
while the sarcophagus of the rich has been torn 
open, his remains and costly ornaments carried 
off, and instead of finding their resting place in 
the costly tombs of Egypt are stowed away under 
some table of fancy work in old European and 
young American museums, exposed to the rude 
handling and ridiculous remarks of the public. 



18 



210 crystal palace. 

The Greek and Roman Courts. 

At the magnificence of the ancient architect- 
ure of Greece, Rome, and the countries of the 
East, we can hardly wonder when we consider 
the fact that even the dispositions of the archi- 
tects and their various assistants were thought to 
demand much attention before terms were agreed 
upon. This will be better understood from the 
following rules quoted from an ancient work on 
architecture. 

"An architect (sthapati) should be con- 
versant in all sciences; ever attentive to his 
avocations ; of an unblemished character ; gene- 
rous, sincere, and devoid of enmity and jealousy." 

"Of nearly equal qualifications with him, 
should be the (sutragrahi) ; he may be either the 
son or the disciple of the (sthapati) ; he should 
be particularly skilled in mathematics, and be 
strictly obedient to the will of the {sthapati.) 

" A (tacshaca) who is thus called, from part 
of his avocation being to pare rough wood, should 
be of a cheerful temper, and well versed in all 
mechanical arts. 

" A (vardhaci) is he who is dexterous in join- 



GBBEK COURT. 211 

ing wood, and uniting other materials one with 
another ; he should be of a calm disposition, and 
acquainted with drawing and perspective. 

" As it is impossible to build houses and the 
like, without the aid of the four descriptions of 
artisans, let the enlightened twice born, (Bramins 
and others, belonging to the first, second and 
third class of Hindoos,) gratify them in every 
respect, so that buildings may be erected. 

" Woe to them who dwell in a house not 
built according to the proportions of symmetry. 
In building an edifice, therefore, let all -its parts 
from the basement to the roof, be duly con- 
sidered." 

I do not know that the Greek and Roman 
Courts in the Crystal Palace, are portions of any 
particular temple or palace in Greece or Italy. I 
think they are merely specimens of the magnifi- 
cent and symmetrical general style of architecture 
of the two countries. 

On the walls of the Greek Court glitter in 
golden letters the names of kings, statesmen, sol- 
diers and poets. The sculptured decorations of 
the walls, chiseled as they were by the masters 
of the Grecian art, present a beautiful view of 



212 KOMAN COURTS. 

grace and lively execution so characteristic of the 
early artists. 

Adjoining the Greek Court, is the Roman 
Court. Their proximity and similarity presents 
a fine opportunity for the architectural student to 
study the really existing differences between the 
two, and to discover what meaning is intended to 
be conveyed by the sentence so often quoted by 
writers on Greek and Roman architecture. " The 
Greek art has modified Roman Taste." Rome, 
the mistress of the world, with all her boasted 
pomp, wealth, and learning, was dependent on 
Greece for her designs. For centuries, after 
Greece had succumbed to her powerful rival, her 
Roman conqueror, continued to borrow from her 
monuments of art. The only apparent differ- 
ences of style are the greater simplicity or plain- 
ness of the Roman walls, and arches being sub- 
stituted for the flat entrances and ceilings of the 
Greek. The architects of Greece seem not to 
have possessed any knowledge of the arch, while 
those of Italy seemed to have known and used it 
in every kind of structure. 

" Necessitv is the mother of invention." So 
said somebody of old. but patent-offices of modern 



VENUS. 213 

clays bear witness to the fact that this is not always 
true. It, however, is undoubtedly true in very 
many cases, " The first bridge was probably a 
tree which had fallen from one bank to the other 
of some mountain torrent." This might, in the 
course of a great many years, when large streams 
were to be crossed, have suggested the idea of 
the arch. How permanent a feature of architect- 
ure, the arch has become is evidenced by the 
most unpretending village church. It is no 
church at all without an arched doorway, window, 
or ceiling. 

If there is nothing particularly striking in 
the walls of the Greek andRoman Courts, there are 
ample amends made by the statues and other 
objects of interest exhibited in those courts, The 
centre piece of the Greek Court is a magnificent 
statue of Venus. The great beauty of the work 
consists in its unusual attitude, and the fineness 
of the carving. 

" On her beryl throne by Tritons borne, 
Bright rose the goddess like the star of morn, 
"With rosy fingers, as uncurled they hung, 
Round her fair brow, her golden locks she wrung ; 
O'er the smooth surge in silver sandals stood, 
And looked enchantment on the dazzled flood." 



214 AroLLO BELVIDEBE. 

The finest piece of art in the Greek Court, in 
fact said to be the finest work of the kind in the 
world, is the celebrated Niobe Group. This is 
from a temple in Rome, discovered in 1583. The 
next object of unusual interest, was the groop of 
the Laocoon. The original was discovered in 
1506, near the Baths of Titus at Rome. There 
are statues of Sophocles, Demosthenes, Socrates, 
and other statesmen, philosophers, poets and 
historians. In the Roman Court, the best statue 
was the Apollo Belvidere. The attitude, and the 
combined expression of intellect and physical 
symmetry, render this especially attractive. Apol- 
lo had many names, originating from the places 
in which he was worshipped, or in which his stat- 
ues were erected. Hence, Belvidere from the 
part of the Vatican of that name, where the 
original statue was discovered. The artist from 
whose hand the Apollo Belvidere proceeded is 
not known. The origin of it was once given 
by a celebrated writer in France. This has been 
translated. 

" Polydore, (an assumed name,) a young 
sculptor of Athens came to participate in- the 
games of Olympia. He had seen around the race 



GBEEK COURT. 215 

course, exposed to the eyes of all Greece, the stat- 
ues of the heroes and the gods. He had seen a 
young man intoxicate his heart with the Venus 
of Praxiteles, and the forehead of a young beauty 
blush with modesty near the Mercury of Termis- 
andre ; he had seen in the looks of a disciple of 
Socrates an unchanging religious contemplation 
before the Jupiter of Phidias. 

"The love of glory and jealousy (but that 
noble jealousy the companion of talent and of the 
love of glory) took possession of the heart of 
Polydore. He departed from the circle of the 
games; gained the borders of the sea; and 
there alone, in silence, thoughtful, he heard not 
the waves which were breaking with a crash 
against the shore ; he heard only the voice of 
renown, which published to the universe the 
names of his rivals and eternized them. * Yes,' 
exclaimed he, 4 it shall thus publish mine ; it 
must publish it ; it must come to pass, that when 
men shall see me appear, they will say, there he 
is. I will constrain in my turn my rivals to hear 
my name with inquietude. I will oblige that 
proud and oppressive look of powerful men to 
fall less haughtily upon my brow, and that of the 



216 POLYDORE. 

most disdainful beauties no longer to neglect 
Polydore. Upon me will rest with more complacency 
the look of my dear Ephria. If I may be but 
able to conceive a master-piece, which shall sur- 
pass all those which the Grecian chisel has hith- 
erto devised ! Let me essay to unite in a single 
work the true, the beautiful, and the sublime all 
at once. To form this happy alliance, I will 
choose the model from the gods ; the forms in the 
imaginary beautiful ; the graces, between youth 
and manhood ; the action, among those only that 
command that moderate expression in which the 
true retains the beautiful, and from which the 
beautiful does not exclude the true." 

" Then the imagination of Polydore entered 
Olympus and passed all the gods in review before 
him. It stopped not at Mars, it stopped not at 
Mercury ; it disdained Adonis whom Venus alone 
had made a god. ' I see ' said he ' only Apollo 
who can fulfil my project, I see only the god of 
day, the master of the lyre, the son of Jupiter, 
and the conqueror of the serpent Python,' Poly- 
dore selected Apollo. The day began to decline ; 
Polydore returned home; he retired to rest, he 
dreams, he thinks, he imagines. ' Behold him ' 



GREEK COURTS. 217 

he exclaims, 4 he walks ; he sees the monster, he 
draws his bow, the monster is dead and the god 
departs with indignation. The arm that drew 
the bow is yet suspended ; the other is at rest.' 
At the first ray of day Polydore flies to his 
workshop. He fixes his eye upon a block of 
marble. % He is there ' says he ' I see him • 
(his genius made him there) he must now come 
out from it. Already the chisels of his pupils have 
taken possession of the block. But as soon as Poly- 
dore thinks he sees the place where the god is, he 
stops the chisels of his pupils and takes his own. 
Each stroke he gives detaches and causes to fall at 
his feet a part of the veil which hides Apollo from 
him. Already one beholds sparkling a body the 
most noble, the most harmonious, a body the 
least masculine, and the least youthful all at once ; 
limbs free from all the imperfections of humanity 
and rising one from the other. But the head yet 
remains concealed ; and if the body be a god the 
head must be Apollo. It is the head above all 
that must show the god of the lyre, of day, and 
the conqueror of Python. The chisel of Polydore 
trembles in approaching the divine head, and 
hesitates to unveil it ; but at length emboldened, 

19 



218 CRYSTAL PALACE. 

without doubt by Apollo himself, he lightly ruaa 
over the forehead, which suddenly thinks ; he 
raises his eyebrows, and there escapes from his 
eyes a look that outspeeds the arrow ; finally he 
passes over the lips, and indignation breathes 
from them." 

" This is the Apollo Belvidere ! this is that 
marble made a god by one of these creating 
chisels, which in selecting, combining, or imitating 
nature have surpassed nature ! How beautiful is 
it ! how noble ! how imposing and touching all at 
once. How perfectly that body is developed I 
The eye is forced in running over it to follow the 
admirable line which designed it ! it can stop in 
no part. What an artist was Polydore ! One is 
obliged to recollect that this Apollo is marble to 
think that it is the work of man." 

The Apollo Belvidere is in existence and 
" Polydore" might have reaped for the time 
being somewhat of the glory he desired but he is 
now unknown. 

In the Roman Court the vases are of 
wonderful size and workmanship. The sarcophagii 
are of better material than those of the Egyptian 
Court. The ornamental work is finer and but 



SARCOPHAGUS. 219 

few hieroglyphics mark them. The Romans 
considered the stone of a sarcophagus to be only 
sarcophagus (flesh — consuming) when it came 
from Assos in Asia Minor. It was singularly 
true that this stone would entirely consume a 
body in about six weeks. 

In the Court there is what is thought to be 
an exact model of the Roman Forum. The 
very spot where Cicero delivered his orations is 
carefully pointed out. There are many other 
statues and models in the Greek and Roman 
courts but accurate descriptions would prove 
tedious and uninteresting. 

A visitor accustomed to system might very 
naturally ask, why in describing the courts I 
have not followed the order in which they stand 
in the Palace ; commencing with the Egyptian, 
then through the Greek, Roman, Alhambra, 
Byzantine, German Mediaeval, Mediaeval, French 
Mediaeval, Italian, Pompeian, and the Industrial 
Courts. This is the course generally recommended. 
My own opinions however may be no index to 
those of another, but I visited in order, those in 
which I felt the greatest degree of interest, and 



220 CRYSTAL PALACE. 

having afterwards tried the regular prescribed 
order I can safely say the irregular is much the 
best. 



The Pompeian Court. 

Could it be that a person could obtain some 
elevated spot overlooking an entire city, and then 
have all the houses opened to his view in such a 
manner that he could look down through them 
what a tremendous assortment of domestic affairs 
would his eyes behold. "Family jars," domestic 
bliss, amours, drinking, feasting among the rich ; 
fasting, repining, and utter wretchedness among 
the poor ; fine revelations made of scandalizing 
neighbors, of female gossiping societies, of ma- 
noevering mothers, and in fact he would find 
almost everybody at almost everything except 
their prayers. 

To us of the nineteenth century two cities 
are exposed to view not quite in this manner. 
Instead of being opened all at once they were 
concealed suddenly and are now being dug into a 
re-existing state. Herculaneum and Pompeii 
destroyed by the very mountain to which they 



POMPEIAN COURT. 221 

were clinging for protection. The descriptions of 

former times former people and their customs 

given by historians are, as it were, nothing to the 

history laid before us by the excavations already 

made in these two cities. In imagination we can 

form some slight outline of the scene as it was. 

Two Roman cities enjoying with Rome their 

palmiest days. Triumphal feasts are being held 

in their palaces. Masquerades are taking place 

in public saloons and the gaily attired masquers 

are seen wending their ways through the brilliantly 

lighted streets. The sick, suffering and dying are 

there lying upon couches and beside them the 

patiently watching wife, sister, or mother. But 

the feasts and revelry were high, and wild, and 

and those not enjoying them were forgotten ; 



" And bright 
The lamp shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 
A thousand hearts beat happily, and when 
Music arose with its voluptuous swell 
Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again— 
And all went merry as a marriage bell ; 
But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strike like a rising bell.'* 



The cry spreads, an awful irruption of Vesu- 
vius is taking place, and from its crater pours 
forth the consuming rivers of molten lava. Scenes 

19* 



222 ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 

of revelry become in a second heart-rending 
scenes of woe. In the tuinltuous rush mingled 
parents seeking their children, children their 
parents, friends their friends, and lovers their 
beloved. And there was seen. 



" Gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, 
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago, 
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness : 
And there was sudden partings, such as press 
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs, 
Which ne'er might be repeated." 



The city nearest the mountain was Hercu- 
laneum. It consequently w r as destroyed by the 
lava pouring into it and ultimately covering it. 
Pompeii was buried by the stones, ashes and 
scoria3 thrown from the crater. It is on this ac- 
count that the excavations of Pompeii have been 
more successfully carried on than have those of 
Herculaneum. 

The streets as far as they have been opened, 
reveal to the explorers many of the doings and 
secrets of private Roman life, and which other- 
wise would never have become known. The 
Pompeian court is a Roman court, and the only 
difference existing between the two, as they are 



FOMPEIAN HOUSES. 223 

in the Palace is, the Roman court consists of 
specimens of the finest Roman architecture, while 
the Pompeian consists of the private residences 
of the Romans, as discovered at Pompeii and 
Herculaneum. From the comparative degree of 
magnificence of these specimens, it is evident that 
the two cities are not so very ancient. The early 
houses of the Romans were but little more than 
huts. Hence, Augustus of Rome, boasted he 
found in that city, the houses to be of unburnt 
brick, but he would have them of marble. This 
is applicable, as is evident to Pompeii and Her- 
culaneum. 

The Pompeian courts are composed first, of 
an open hall, surrounded with columns, an arched 
semi-roof and tessellated pavement. In the cen- 
tre of the court is generally a fountain. From 
the court, are small passages leading to the differ- 
ent rooms, all of which are very small. The 
decorations are exceedingly rich. The frescoes 
consist of a ground-work of bright colors, on 
which are painted landscapes and Roman deities. 
The cornices and ceilings are finely carved and 
gilded. 

To the Pompeian courts, there is a some- 



224 NINEVEH COURT. 

thing wanting to destroy the bare appearance of 
the place. It looks very much like a tenantless 
house. A much better idea of the convenience 
of Roman dwellings could be obtained, if the 
Palace company would expend a small sum and 
take the necessary care to procure Roman furni- 
ture from Pomeii wherewith to furnish the courts. 
A wax family group at Coma, might show the 
Roman taste displayed in arranging a table, and 
also exhibit the perfection of their cooks. This 
would also exhibit the Roman couches on which 
they reclined at their meals ; and their various 
styles of eating and drinking vessels. While 
around the table might linger the darkly clothed, 
slippered and tunicked slave. The models for all 
of which could easily be procured at Pompeii. 



The Nineveh Court. 

To the exertions of A. H. Layard Esq., the 
fruits of whose labors are now in the British 
Museum, the Crystal Palace Company owes the 
Nineveh Court. This court is taken entirely from 
the monuments and other specimens of architect- 



MK. LAYAKD. 225 

lire sent by Mr. Layard from Nineveh, to the 
British Museum, during the years he spent 
among ruins and strange people. The specimens 
were all excavated from mounds of sand and dirt, 
in which for centuries they had been entombed. 
The difficulties attendant upon- their excavation 
and removal must have been very great, not only 
from their weight and depth of burial, but also 
from the many interruptions occasioned by the 
people. During one of a great many of these 
interruptions, Mr. Layard wrote, u I had scarcely 
resumed my labors, when I received information 
that the Cadi of Mosul was endeavoring to stir 
up the people against me, chiefly on the plea that 
I was carrying away treasure; and what was 
worse, finding inscriptions which proved that the 
Franks once held the country, and upon the evi- 
dence of which they intended immediately to 
resume possession of it, exterminating all true 
believers." Here he was again obliged to stop, 
and did not resume his labors for several months. 
Interruptions of this kind seem to have attended 
him during his entire work. Other difficulties 
originated in the thievish propensities of the sur- 
rounding tribes, and in the choice of native 



226 WINGED BULLS. 

workmen. Of the latter, he had about two hun- 
dred with seven overseers. These he divided 
between Nimroud and Kouyunjik. His company 
of overseers consisted of two Arab Sheiks, three 
Mosuleans, one Candiote, and one JSTestorian 
Christian. 

The first view of the exterior of the Nineveh 
Court, is particularly impressive. This presents 
to the eye a grand colonnade, about one hundred 
feet long, raised upon walls twenty feet high. The 
entrances to the court consist of three great gates. 
One large central gate, and two smaller ones 
placed at regular distances on each side of the 
grand gate. The jambs of the grand gate are 
composed of two immense human-headed winged 
bulls, similar to those discovered by Mr. Layard 
at Kouyunjik. The bulls are intended to convey 
about the same meaning as the human-headed 
winged lions, mentioned not only by Mr. Layard, 
but also by % M. Botta. "They," says M. Botta, 
concerning the builders of the temples, "could 
find no better type of intellect and knowledge 
than the head of the man ; of strength, than the 
body of the lion ; of rapidity of motion than the 
wings of the bird." The bulls are covered with 



NIMROD. 227 

bright paint. On each side of the small entrances 
is a colossal human figure, representing " Nim- 
rod, the Mighty Hunter." He was the founder 
of the Assyrian Empire, and is here represented 
in the act of strangling a young lion by pressing 
it to his body. There is in his left hand a hooked 
instrument which was used in war as well as in 
hunting. This weapon is still used by the wild 
tribes. From its semi-circular shape, it describes 
when thrown an elipse, returning towards the 
thrower. The cornice immediately over these 
figures and below the colonnade is formed of cir- 
cular and diamond-shaped ornaments, painted 
blue and orange. The columns at all the corners 
are square, ornamented with figures and colors 
similar to the cornice ; these are surmounted with 
capitals of scroll work. The intervening columns 
are round, fluted and beautifully painted. Their 
capitals consist of the joined heads, breasts and 
forelegs of two bulls. Over these, is a highly 
ornamented cornice with turrets supporting the 
roof. Red, blue and orange, are the predominant 
colors. The grand entrance leads into a large 
hall, in which are four large pillars supporting 
the roof. The roof is constructed of large cross- 



228 WINGED LIONS. 

beams, pannelled in squares, richly colored and 
ornamented with flowers, faces and cones of the 
fir. Nearly opposite the grand gate in the hall, 
is a small portal supported and guarded by a pair 
of the human-headed, winged lions, from Nim- 
roud. The originals of which are in the British 
Museum. " These lions," Mr. Layard says, 
" were not idle creations, the offspring of mere 
fancy; their meaning was written upon them. 
They had awed and instructed races which flour- 
ished 3,000 years ago. Through the portals 
which they guarded kings, priests, and warriors, 
had borne sacrifices to their altars, long before 
the wisdom of the East had penetrated to Greece, 
and had furnished its mythology with symbols 
long recognized by the Assyrian votaries. They 
may have been buried, and their existence may 
have been unknown, before the foundation of the 
Eternal City. For twenty-five centuries they had 
been hidden from the eye of man, and they now 
stood forth once more in their ancient majesty. 
But how changed was the scene around them ! 
The luxury and civilization of a mighty nation 
had given place to the wretchedness and ignor- 
ance of a few half barbarous tribes. The wealth 



NINEVAH. 231 

of temples, and the riches of great cities had been 
succeeded by ruins and shapeless heaps of earth. 
Above the spacious hall in which they stood, the 
plough had passed and the corn now waved.' ' 

" Nmevah, a desolation and dry like a wil- 
derness, and flocks lie down in the midst of her ; 
all the beasts of the nation, both the cormorant 
and bittern lodge in the upper lintels of it, their 
voice sings in the windows ; and desolation is in 
the threshholds." 

From the large hall, there are many passages 
leading to small inner chambers. In these, are 
quantities of statues, bass reliefs and fine orna- 
mental sculpture. The only really attractive 
feature of the Ninevah Court, are the exterior and 
the winged lions in the great hall. 



Byzantine Court. 

The principal portions of the Byzantine 
Court, are from the Church of St. John, at Sama- 
ria. From the appearance of the court, the 
church must be remarkably beautiful, but it is 
not a little unfortunate that many of the most 



232 BYZANTINE COURT. 

celebrated travellers have been prevented from 
visiting the various parts of the church by the 
bands of robbers at all times there congregated. 
In consequence of this, the descriptions of St. 
John's are very indefinite and hastily written. 
The ruins and situation are said to be among the 
most prominent and striking to be met with in 
the Holy Land. One traveller after complaining 
of being unable to visit th<3 ruins for fear of being 
abused, says of a party of his friends whom he 
saw enter the church, they "were set upon by 
these lawless fellows, their bags and portmanteaus 
rudely hauled over and rifled, themselves 
called all manner of names, and most outrag- 
eously pushed about and jeered at, and at last 
suffered to escape only by submitting with admi- 
rable patience and presence of mind to the impor- 
tunities of these scoundrels for bakhshish, and to 
their unscrupulous thefts before our friends' eyes." 
From the Byzantine style of architecture, 
one thing seems very prominent, that is, the 
architects thought for their worshipping places 
nothing could be too costly or too grand. This, 
however, was certainly carried too far. Certain 
ladies indulge in dressing in all varieties of gay 



BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE. 233 

colors, without paying any attention to taste or 
harmony. These are said to be "dressed to 
death." The Byzantine style may be said to be 
dressed in like manner. Wherever gilding, blue, 
orange, red, or green can be placed, with or with- 
out effect, there it is in abundance. The Byzan- 
tine architect, covered his arched ceilings with 
deep blue paint, and then covered the paint with 
stars of gold, placed as regularly as the squares 
on a chess-board, and as thickly set as are the 
stars of the milky way, comparatively speaking. 
The decorations of the arches, pillars, and capi- 
tals, consist of trees without branches, branches 
without twigs, and twigs without leaves. Leaves 
seem to have been altogether unknown. 

The exterior of the court consists of a cloister 
of which the west front is composed of an im- 
mense arched doorway, and four small arches on 
each side. The pillars supporting the arches are 
made of dark-red and green marble in alternate 
layers. The ornaments on the capitals of these 
pillars consist of dragons showing their teeth. 
The teeth are certainly their most prominent 
features. The dragons, like the lions in the court 

of the Alhambra, notwithstanding their teeth ap- 

20* 



234 CRYSTAL PALACE. 

pear very harmless. They are white, emblematical 
of their innocence. The walls in some parts are 
covered with gold leaf, in other parts they are 
pannelled in squares of variegated marbles. The 
borders of the squares are tessellated mosaic 
marbles, black, red, and gilded. On this western 
front, and immediately over the capitals of the 
pillars are fresco portraits, life size, painted 
on a gold ground. The first is the ma- 
jestic Mcephorus, robed in an azure mantle, 
bordered with golden hearts. The second, Justi- 
nian. He is crowned and dressed in black, purple 
and gold. The third, Theodora, carrying a large 
gold urn. She is dressed in claret-colored velvet 
trimmed with gold, and a cap inlaid with dia- 
monds, rubies and pearls. The fourth, and last 
on the western front, is a sitting figure of Charles 
le Chauve, clothed in a vest embroidered w T ith 
gold, over which is thrown a scarlet mantle. On 
the northern front, are four similar frescoes. The 
first, on one end is Day, represented as a young 
and exceedingly beautiful virgin. Her skirt is 
of light green, vermillion bocldice, with lilac and 
gold mantle thrown carelessly around her. She 
holds an upright flaming torch. On the opposite 



SANCTA MARIA. 235 

end is Night, dressed in a dim purple skirt, dim 
claret boddicc, dark blue, star-spangled veil, cov- 
ering the head, and holding a reversed torch 
merely smoking. Between Day and Night, are 
Sancta Maria, and the young Saviour. Sancta 
Maria, instead of appearing the poor carpenter's 
wife, the lowly mother of Jesus, who took Him 
to rest in a manger, appears here the queen of 
the whole earth. She is clothed in a dove- colored 
skirt, over which is a blue robe, brilliantly 
worked with gold and diamonds. One of her 
arms is around the waist of the child, and in her 
hand, she holds a dove. The child is clothed in 
a robe of white, ornamented with large lilies of 
gold; any one of which would have purchased 
the " inn," and all it contained, where, because 
He had not an abundance of the filthy lucre, 
there " was no room for Him." 

There are several small cloisters but of no 
interest except for some of the frescoes they 
contain. These are of Jesus, the Virgin, St. John 
the Baptist and others. The direct entrance to the 
Court is through an avenue of twisted mosaic 
pillars. Over these is an archway decorated with 
fruits, flowers, animals and hunting scenes. After 



236 BYZANTINE ANGELS. 

entering the court a tremendous doorway in the 
northeast corner presents not only the chief 
feature of the interior but also a very extraordinary 
sight. On each side of the door is a massive 
blue pillar, up which ran a thick vine, and, in 
turn, up the vine clambers a great pink dragon. 
Between the door and the two outside pillars are 
two small pillars, painted green. On these small 
pillars instead of dragons there are sea-sick 
looking sailors, savage withal, and clothed with 
great broad blue pantaloons and striped jackets. 
It would be very difficult to determine what these 
were intended to represent did one not see just 
two such figures on the other side with wings. 
Hence they are evidently angels of Byzantine 
imagination. The entire doorway is decorated 
with flowers and vegetables, the kind that flour- 
ished about the time of the great animals in the 
grounds previously mentioned. Certainly never 
since then. The arch over the door is probably 
the most curious part of it. The sides of the 
arch are covered with supernatural human faces, 
and lizards tied up in sailor knots, and for want 
of something better to do, they are snapping at 
their own tails. The keystone of the arch is 



GROTESQUE DESIGNS. 237 

indescribable. It is certainly intended for an angel 
with broken back or that kind of colic produced 
by eating green grapes. It seems to be jerking 
at the earth, and is evidently in a quandary, for 
if it holds on, the earth will pull it down and if 
it lets go its hold the earth will be injured. 
Altogether a more hideous affair than this door- 
way is not to be seen throughout the length and 
breadth of Sydenham. There are many other 
doorways, sculptures and frescoes in different 
parts of the Court all of which are more or less 
covered with blue, black, red, green and orange, 
and deformed animals. The Byzantine Court is an 
excellent specimen of the Byzantine architecture ; 
but at the same time it is the most unharmonious, 
tasteless affair imaginable. Moreover there is 
one thing belonging to several parts of it that may 
do very well for the heathen and savages but 
which to any one making pretensions to civiliza- 
tion or Christianity is particularly revolting. I 
allude to several attempts made to embody in a 
material form certain conceptions of the Supreme 
Being. 

Although undoubtedly the Byzantine architect 
carried his designs too far, yet certainly there is 



238 GOTHIC AKOHITECTURE. 

something praiseworthy in his zeal for everything 
pertaining to his religion, his houses of worship, 
and his yearnings for the truth. 



The Mediaeval Courts. 

The Mediaeval Courts above all others will 
always be, to Londoners, the most interesting 
inasmuch as these are composed principally of 
the best specimens of English Gothic architecture. 
In endeavoring to trace the history of the various 
styles it is a matter of great difficulty to discover 
when, where, or how the Grothic originated. 
Magnificent specimens of Gothic art have been 
discovered in England, France, Italy, Spain and 
Germany, all of which apparently bear the same 
date. That honor might " be given to whom 
honor is due " it would form a fine subject of 
investigation for some puzzle loving antiquarian 
to discover the oldest Gothic edifice. All of the 
countries mentioned have added some little pecu- 
liarity to the orignal plain Gothic in the course 
of years, and consequently the style may now be 
considered perfect. 



TINTEKN ABBEY. 239 

The specimens of English Gothic art are 
from the Cathedrals and Abbeys of the country, 
including Westminster, Tintern, Lincoln, Lich- 
field, Hereford and others. Of these Westminster, 
previously described under that caption, and 
Tintern are the best. Tintern was built by the 
Cistercian Monks. This order was founded by 
Robert, Abbot of Molesne. It was dedicated to 
the Virgin Mary about 1131. If the stringent 
rules of a modern civilization and stringent 
religion have banished monks and such ecclesias- 
tical orders in some countries, they seem at the 
same time in those countries to have struck the 
death-blow at everything like an extraordinary 
work of art. Little obscure country towns and 
villages in many parts of Europe owe the little 
importance they possess to some old ruin, the 
original structure of which modern art cannot 
equal. And North America from one extreme to 
the other can hardly boast of a dozen edifices, of 
any kind, that would call forth from an observer 
any other exclamation than " how pretty," or of 
which a full description could not be given in a doz- 
en lines of a village newspaper. The religion of the 
monks, it is true was stringent, nevertheless their 



240 FRENCH GOTHIC. 

places of worship and abode were perfect models 
of architectural beauty and excellence. Tintern 
is considered an unapproachable piece of love- 
liness. But it is rapidly passing away. But 
little remains beyond the sacristy, dormitories 
and refectory. 

The Gothic architecture in the department of 
the Mediaeval Courts devoted to France, give the 
student a fine opportunity for noting the peculiari- 
ties of French and English Gothic. In the English, 
walls highly ornamented and but few windows are 
noticed. In the French the decorations are richer, 
but the walls are greatly reduced to windows 
filled with costly stained glass. Many other 
slight peculiarities exist so that a casual observer 
would readily suppose them two distinct styles. 

The German specimens are few in number, 
and by no means remarkable. 

For an aged person, every one cherishes 
naturally a feeling of respect. So it is with Gothic 
architecture — it is old — nay — almost buried. 
We sometimes see its monuments, but w r e respect 
them as having been erected in, and belonging to, 
other days. 

Several distinguished architects in the world, 



PYRAMIDAL CITIES. 241 

and a certain one or two in London, are earnestly 
recommending a return to ancient styles, instead 
of making improvements on them, or of invent- 
ing new styles. They say, " Go back only to the 
Gothic." If so, for why not farther? "Why not 
commence with the Hindoo, from which in genea- 
logical order is descended the Egyptian, then the 
Greek and Roman? Or to be slightly more 
modern, suppose we take the pyramidal style of 
Egypt. Pyramidal houses, pyramidal churches, 
pyramidal monuments, pyramidal walls, door- 
ways, steeples, everything pyramidal, and covered 
with red, green, black and blue hieroglyphics. 
How picturesquely beautiful an American city 
would look thus built ! The tide of travel would 
be turned from the East towards the West. Cairo, 
Gizeh with its pyramids, Thebes, and all the rest 
of the world would sink into insignificance, be- 
side the pyramidal city built by " that guessing, 
reckoning, and calculating tarnal Yankee nation." 
The rich, the titled, the noble, all who visit dur- 
ing the summer Italy and the Nile, would join 
the poor laborer in his song : — 

" To the west, to the west, where the rivers that flow, 
Run thousands of miles, spreading out as they go ; 

21 



242 NUBIAN C0UKT, 

Where the green waring forests shall echo our caf?, 

As wide as old England and free to us all;— 

Where the prairies like seas where the billows have rolled^ 

Are broad as the kingdoms and Empires of old ; 

And the lakes are like oceans in storm and in rest 7 

Away, far away, to the land of the west," 



The Nubian Court. 

To the south, of Egypt, lies a tract of land 
about eight hundred miles long, by name Nubia. 
The Nile flows through this, according to the 
statements of travellers, between two high ranges 
of granite and sandstone hills. The Nile here 
rises only to a certain height, and thus the country 
does not possess the advantage of the annual 
overflow as does Egypt. Nubia, consequently is 
watered by means of the water-wheel so preva- 
lent in some parts of Europe. These are worked 
by oxen, night and day. One American writer 
in describing them, says, concerning the creaking 
of the ungreased wheels, " As all the grease in 
the country is used in plastering the long hair of 
the unturbaned heads of the Nubians, they creak 
all along the river with a sound which in the dis- 
tance is like the hum of a musquito." This 



ROCK TEMPLE. 213 

Nubia is what geographers call, or, at least a part 
of what is called, "the unexplored region of 
Ethiopia." Notwithstanding its want of fertility, 
Nubia has nevertheless contributed its share to 
the amusement and instruction of hundreds of 
thousands of persons who have visited the Crys- 
tal Palace, and w r ill contribute to the pleasure of 
millions who will yet visit it. The chief features 
of the Nubian court, are the colossal sitting fig- 
ures which adorn one end. These are from the 
Rock Temple of Ipsambul, or more frequently 
Abousimbil and Abousaimbul. The figures are 
said to be representations of Rameses, by whom 
the Rock Temple was excavated. By dropping 
a line from the head to a level with the feet, the 
figures measured sixty-four feet each. The faces 
are seven feet long, and the nose two feet eight 
inches. When operations for digging the Tem- 
ple out of the sand in which it had for many 
years, and in fact many centuries been sunk, it 
was estimated that the entrance to the Temple 
was buried only twenty feet. Twenty feet of 
sand was cleared away, then thirty feet, and it 
was not until fifty-two feet were dug and carried 
away, that the stone platform was reached. The 



244 EAMESE9. 

• 

dimensions of the Temple were then found to be, 
width, one hundred and twenty feet ; height, 
eighty-six feet) and depth of excavation in the 
solid rock, one hundred and seventy feet. The 
Temple is richly sculptured with sentences in 
praise of Rameses. In the original, there must 
be several apartments, for Stanley says, " In that 
square rocky chamber, to which we are thus 
brought by the arms of the mountain, closing us 
in with a closer and ever closer embrace, stood, 
and still stands though broken, the original altar. 
Behind the altar, seated against the rocky wall, 
their hands upon their knees, looking straight out 
through the door of the Sanctuary, through the 
corridor, through the second hall, and through 
the first to the small aperture of daylight and 
blue sky, as it is now— to the majestic portal as 
it was in ancient times — sate and still sit the four 
great gods of the Temple." 

The Nubian court has for its ornaments 
many animals, formerly worshipped by the Nu- 
bians. These look like miniature copies of the 
nondescripts in the grounds of the Palace. Com- 
paring the great Temple with the animals deco- 



INDUSTRIAL COURTS. 245 

rating it, I fully realized the truth of the trite 
saying, " there is but a step between the sublime 
and the ridiculous." 



The Italian Renaissance and Industrial 

Courts. 

In the style of architecture of the Italian, 
Renaissance and Industrial Courts, there is noth- 
ing remarkable nor yet interesting. The con- 
tents consists only of statues of Venus, Cupid, 
Leo X., Lucretia Borgia, and an almost endless 
list of gods, human beings, and fanciful imagin- 
ings wrought in marble. These are nearly all 
from the hand of Michael Angelo. The Indus- 
trial Courts are arranged as Stores, for the sale 
of English manufactured articles, pottery, glass 
ware, and cutlery, compose the general stock. 

In few words, the Crystal Palace, is an epi- 
tome of the geography and history of the World. 
Here are the plants, animals, and specimens of 
the humanity of all countries under the sun. 

4/ 

Here are material forms given to the imaginings 

of Homer, Milton, and Shakspeare. Here are 

21* 



246 CRYSTAL PALACE. 

the heroes, sages and poets of all countries and 
ages. Here are representations of every gigantic 
work of art produced since Adam, of which there 
is the faintest record. And here, in the building 
itself, is the greatest work of architectural art of 
the nineteenth century. 

I do not kno\f how better to conclude this 
already too long chapter, than with the beautiful 
and appropriate prayer of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, used at the opening of the Palace. 

"Almighty and everlasting God! who dost 
govern all things, both in Heaven and earth, in- 
cline Thine ear, we entreat Thee, to Thy people, 
which call upon Thee, and graciously receive our 
prayers. Without Thee, nothing is strong, noth- 
ing is holy. Except the Lord build the house, 
their labor is but lost who build it." And now 
we entreat Thee, to bless the work which we have 
accomplished in this place, and to render it the 
means of promoting Thy glory. May those who 
admire the wonders of nature here displayed, be 
taught to perceive in those the vigor of that cre- 
ative wisdom by which all things fulfil the pur- 
poses which they are designed to serve ; enable 
those who survey the wonders of art and industry 



OPENING PRAYER. 247 

which surround them to remember that it is by 
Thee that knowledge is increased, and science 
made to minister to the benefit and comfort of 
mankind ; for the spirit of man is from Thee, and 
the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him un- 
derstanding; therefore, 4 JSTot unto us, Lord, 
not unto us, but unto Thy name be all the praise/ 
While we contemplate the remains of former 
ages, and the monuments of ancient greatness, 
enable us to profit by the examples they afford of 
the instability of earthly things, and ever to bear 
in mind, that according to Thy Providence, na- 
tions flourish or decay ; that Thou hast but to 
give the word, and the richest may become poor, 
and the proudest be levelled in the dust. There- 
fore, Lord, we entreat Thee so to regulate the 
thoughts of our hearts, that they may not be 
lifted up, that we forget the Lord our God, as if 
our power or the might of our hands had gotten 
us this wealth. It cometh of Thine hand, and is 
all Thine own ; both riches and honor come of 
Thee; and Thou reignest over all, and in Thine 
hand it is to make great, and to give strength 
unto all. Now, therefore, Lord we thank Thee, 
and praise Thy glorious name, and beseech Thee 



248 CRYSTAL PALACE. 

to grant that the many blessings vouchsafed to 
our nation, may dispose our hearts to serve Thee 
more faithfully, and in all that we undertake to 
seek Thy honor and glory. Above all, teach us 
so to use the earthly blessings Thou givest us 
richly to enjoy, that they may not withdraw our 
affections from those Heavenly things that Thou 
hast prepared for those that love and serve Thee 
through the merits and mediation of Thy Son, 
Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose prevailing name 
and words w r e farther call on Thee." 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE GREAT FIRE OP 1666.— THE FIRE MONU- 
MENT. — LONDON BRIDGE. — ENGLISH STEAM- 
BOATS. — BILLINGSGATE. — CUSTOM HOUSE. — 
MUD LARKS.— THE TOWER OF LONDON. — TRIN- 
ITr HOUSE. — ST. KATHARINE'S AND LONDON 
DOCKS. 



DOWN THE THAMES. 

Of the River Thames, I hardly know what 
to say. It is a narrow — dirty — and rapid stream 
— near its mouth it flows through a flat country 
not particularly picturesque — about forty miles 
from London it gradually becomes a scene of life, 
beauty and business. Thousands of pleasure 
boats, steam boats, trading vessels, fishermen 
. crafts, and large ships completely throng the 
water. Among others, there are a tremendous 
assortment of river pirates — requiring for the 
protection of property, a large and vigilant police 

(249) 



250 fire 1666. 

force. The amount of their depredations, to- 
gether with the goods they smuggle into the city, 
is perfectly incalculable. Their actions are dar- 
ing, and are performed under colors as water- 
men, lightermen, bargemen, and day laborers ; 
but often, when caught, some men holding (he 
highest offices under the customs, have been im- 
plicated. These depredations are not now so 
numerous as they were very few years ago. Al- 
though the river itself possesses but little of 
interest, it affords a convenient means of visit- 
ing the noted places which completely line its 
banks. 



" From the London Gazette, Extraordinary, 
Sunday, 2d. September, 1666. 

" About two o'clock this morning, a sudden 
and lamentable fire broke out in this city, begin- 
ning not far from Thames street, near London 
Bridge, which continues still with great violence, 
and hath already burnt down to the ground many 
houses thereabouts; which sad accident affected 
his Majesty with that tenderness and compassion, 
that he was pleased to go himself in person, with 
his Royal Highness, the Duke of York, to give 



MONUMENT. 25 J 

order that all possible means should be used for 
quenching the fire, or stopping its farther pro- 
gress. In which care the Right Hon. the Earl 
of Craven, was sent by his Majesty, to be more 
particularly assisting to the Lord Mayor and 
magistrates ; and several companies of his guards 
sent into the city to be helpful, by what ways 
they could in so great calamity." 



" a plllae to be set up in memory 
of the Fire." 

And the better to preserve the memory of 
this dreadful visitation, be it farther enacted, that 
a column or pillar of brass or stone, be erected on 
or near unto the place where the said fire so un- 
happily began, as conveniently may be, in per- 
petual remembrance thereof; with such an 
inscription thereon, as hereafter by the Mayor 
and Court of Aldermen in that behalf be 
directed." Act of Parliament, 1667. ch. 2. sec. 29. 



In accordance with the Act of Parliament, 
Sir Christopher Wren designed the Fire Monu- 



252 MONUMENT. 

ment, the first stone of which was laid in 1671. The 
moniinient is of Portland Stone, and consists of 
a fluted Doric column, standing upon a Palladian 
pedestal. The pedestal is forty feet high, twenty 
one feet square, and the plinth from which it 
rises twenty eight feet square. The abacus is 
surrounded by an iron railing, above which is a 
gilded flaming urn. The height to the topmost 
point is about two hundred and fifteen feet. From 
the entrance to the top there are three hundred 
and forty-five steps, " around, around, and 
around,"— and having so lately been in the ball of 
St. Paul's, I believe the view presented from the 
top of the monument in no way repaid the 
laborious work of climbing it. I will take part 
of that back, the glory of seeing another produc- 
tion of the brains of Sir Christopher Wren 
should be considered recompense enough. From 
the top of the iron railing, there is an arched 
arbor of iron. This is to prevent persons from 
committing suicide by throwing themselves over, 
as many have done, and been clashed to pieces on 
the pavement below. The pedestal contains on 
each side Latin and English sentences. The 
inscription on the north side, in Latin is rendered. 



INSCRIPTION. 255 

" In the year of Christ, 1666, the fourth day 
of the nones of September, eastward from hence, 
at the distance of 202 feet — near the height of this 
column — about midnight a fire broke out, which 
driven on by a high wind, not only wasted the 
adjacent parts but also places very remote, with 
incredible noise and fury. It consumed 89 
churches, the city gates, Guildhall, many public 
structures, hospitals, schools, libraries, a vast 
number of stately edifices, 13,200 dwelling houses, 
400 streets ; of twenty six wards it utterly des- 
troyed 15 and left eight others shattered and half 
burned. The ruins of the city were 436 acres, 
and extended hence from the Tower by the side 
of the Thames, to theTemple Church, and thence 
from the north east along the City wall to the 
head of the Fleet ditch. Towards the labor and 
fortunes of the citizens it was fatal ; but harmless 
towards their lives ; that it might in all things 
resemble the Last Conflagration of the World." 

The South side contains : — 

11 Charles II., Son of Charles the Martyr, 
King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, 
Defender of the Faith, a most gracious prince, 
commiserating the deplorable state of things, 



256 GREAT EXCITEMENT. 

whilst the ruins were yet smoking, provided for 
the comforts of the citizens and the ornament of 
his city — remitted their taxes, and referred the 
petitions of the magistrates and inhabitants to 
the Parliament, who immediately passed an Act, 
that the public works should be restored to 
greater beauty with public money, to be raised by 
an imposition on coal ; that churches and the 
Cathedral of St. Paul should be rebuilt from their 
foundations with all magnificence ; that the bridges, 
gates, and prisons should be new made; the 
sewers cleaned ; the streets made straight and 
regular, such as were steep levelled and those 
which were too narrow made wider ; and the 
markets and shambles removed into more open 
places." 

The West side is occupied by a bas-relief 
representing Charles II., and on the left the fire ; 
and the laborers preparing to rebuild on the right. 
There was a sentence round the top of the plinth 
which excited a flame almost as great as the fire, 
although of a different nature. 

The sentence was carved in the stone in 
1681 :— 

" This pillar was set up in perpetual remem- 



LOXDOX BRIDGE. 257 

brance of the most dreadful burning of this 
ancient city, began and carried on by the treachery 
and malice of the Popish faction, in the beginning 
of September, in the year of our Lord 1666, in 
order to the carrying on their horrid plot for 
extirpating the Protestant religion, and old 
English liberty, and introducing Popery and 
Slavery." 

In 1685, by order of James II., this was 
entirely cut out. In 1689 by order of the Lord 
Mayor, it was replaced. Here it remained until 
1831, when it was removed by Act of Parlia- 
ment. The plinth now presents a rough broken 
surface. The accusation in the inscription, was 
without foundation as was proved long ago, and 
the only wonder is that it was allowed to remain 
as long as it did. 

The first stone bridge was built across the 
Thames in 1177; previous to which the bridge 
was of wood. The stone bridge built in 1177 
was replaced in 1824, with undoubtedly the best 
bridge in the world. This consists of five arches 
composed of immense blocks of stone. The 
centre arch is one hundred and fifty feet in clear 
rising, and about thirty feet above high water 

22* 



258 LONDON BRIDGE. 

mark. From the centre the bridge slopes gradualty 
towards the ends thus making the two arches 
adjoining the centre arch one hundred and forty 
feet, and the two extreme arches one hundred and 
thirty feet. The length nine hundred and sixty, 
and width eighty-five feet. The carriage way 
fifty-five feet wide. The pavements are of cubical 
blocks of stone. The side walks are paved with 
tremendous slabs, and on each water edge there 
is a wall of stone blocks, each block about eight 
feet long, four and a half high, and three feet 
thick. At distances of about twenty feet are 
niches containing stone seats for pedestrians and 
surmounted with gas-lights. The view up and 
down the Thames from these niches is very fine. 
London Bridge is one of the greatest thoroughfares 
in Europe. From actual observations, the average 
of one horse teams that cross the Bridge in twelve 
hours, is eleven thousand one hundred and fifty. 
Of two horse teams four thousand, tw T o hundred 
and sixty-five. Of three or more, five hundred 
and seventy-seven ; giving a total of fifteen thous- 
and nine hundred and ninety -two , The number of 
saddle horses and pedestrians in the same time 
averages forty thousand. London Bridge is the 



STEAMBOATS. 259 

lowest bridge over the Thames ; above it are a 
great many built of stone, iron, wood ; tubular, 
iron suspensions, and fancy bridges. These are 
nearly all arched, none are draw bridges. No 
large vessel can go above London Bridge. The 
steamboats that go up the river are furnished 
with hinged pipes so that on approaching a bridge 
the pipes are lowered horizontally. 

The English river Steamboats, like London, 
its houses, streets, and everything in or pertain- 
ing to London, are dirty coal-smoked crafts. They 
possess no saloons, except a little concern between 
decks, in which a very short man or woman can- 
not stand upright — and these, bad as they are, 
are generally filled with common tobacco-smoke. 
Every body is expected to sit out on deck. The 
seats are all benches, formed of plain slips from 
two to three inches broad, and intervening open- 
ings the same breadth. Cushions or arm-chairs, 
or neatly furnished saloons on a steamboat have 
not yet been thought of. Externally, the boats 
are painted black, internally, a bright green. The 
upper deck is three feet, never more, above the 
water ; the wheel-houses occupy one-third of the 
room, the wheels are great awkward things — and 



260 RIVER CRAFT. 

the consequence is, that every one on board re- 
ceives a very inconvenient quantity of spray. The 
engines are old fashioned, small moveable cylinder 
affairs, built entirely below the water. All, as I 
said before, must sit out on deck — a very hot day 
there may be an awning, or there may not, just 
as the (generally) lazy captain sees proper. On 
wet days, (five days in seven belong to this class) 
unless well provided with umbrellas, incalculable 
damage ensues to every article of apparel done 
up with starch. There's no escape. Altogether, 
an English steamboat presents a perfect picture, 
of utter wretchedness. I mean this, without a 
single exception, of every river steamboat in 
England ; the ocean steamers are of course much 
better. I have often been amused at the crowds 
of people standing at certain book and picture 
establishment windows, looking at prints of the 
steamers on the Mississippi and other American 
rivers. They seemed filled with about as much 
awe and reverence for the prints, as the multitude 
did for the Prince that fed it with five loaves and 
two small fishes. Their remarks were decidedly 
in favor of American ship-builders. There may 
be only one thing said in favor of the London 



BILLINGSGATE. 261 

boats, they are built strong, and are thus able to 
stand the collisions and thunipings against the 
bridges which they encounter, caused in a great 
manner by the rapid flow of the river. 

The steamboats, like the Parks, afford excel- 
lent opportunities for obtaining an insight into 
Cockney character, and many an hour, I have 
wiled away, first up, then down the river. Lon- 
don Bridge is the chief station for all boats up or 
down. The first object that claims the attention 
going down, is an arched gateway and market- 
place, with scores of small boats lying at the 
wharves in front. This is the world renowned 
Billingsgate. Celebrated as being the best fish 
market in Europe, and the dirtiest hole, filled 
with the lowest white people, to be found in the 
world. There is brought to this market and sold, 
annually one hundred and sixty thousand tons of 
fish. The language spoken by the temporary 
residents, the fish men and women, is said to be 
" The pure, original, and only genuine " Cockney, 
of which the following are correct specimens : — 

" You bloody varmint, d'ye give that hare 
'oss hany bloody hoats this mornink?" 

11 My hys, Jim, vat hawful slippy valkink 



262 CUSTOM HOUSE. 

'tis this here bloody niornink — I should 'ate fell'd 
if so be has 'ow, I 'adn't cotched 'ould hov a 
post is." 

The fights here, especially those among the 
fish women, are by Londoners, considered exceed- 
ingly interesting. The beauties of the fish- 
woman's female form, and the Cockney language, 
shine in all their brilliancy, during these pugi- 
listic encounters. 

Just below Billingsgate, is a long broad ter- 
race, with stone walls extending out into the 
Thames. This portion of the river is called the 
11 Crown Moorings." The large building on the 
north-side of the terrace, is the new Custom 
House. The Sovereigns at one time derived all 
the revenue they received from the customs. 
There was for this no system, no regularity, and 
no custom house. The first custom house was 
originated by a certain John Churchman. This 
was about 1380. The principal object of that 
custom house was, for weighing wool. It was 
destroyed by fire. The second was of stone, built 
by Queen Elizabeth. This was destroyed in the 
great fire of 1666. Several succeeding ones were 
burnt. One designed by Christopher Wren, was 



MUD LARKS. 263 

destroyed in 1718. The next one was about to 
be torn down in 1814, but it also shared the fate 
of its predecessors. The present building was 
erected in 1814, of Portland stone, and is a well 
built edifice. It is four hundred and eighty-eight 
feet long. The " long room," on the first floor, 
is one hundred and ninety feet long; magnifi- 
cently furnished and possessing, in each depart- 
ment, every accommodation for clerks and mer- 
chants. 

A short river trip at low tide, presents to the 
most casual observer, a sad picture of low life. 
Thousands, and probably scores of thousands, of 
poor creatures in London make their living, some- 
times a comparatively comfortable one, in search- 
ing the mud, washed out from the sewers into 
the river, for whatever may have negligently been 
lost or thrown out by accident or careless ser- 
vants; such as silver spoons, forks, and other 
small articles. These " mud larks," understand 
so well the tides, that often they will venture 
great distances up the sewers. As they are seen 
Dn the banks of the river, (which at low tide 
leaves a beach of fine pebbles many feet broad) 
the men in mud-sprinkled fancy costumes, women 



264 THE TOWER. 

in short bright-colored skirts and head dresses, 
and children half naked, altogether appear gro- 
tesque ; — but it is a picture of want and misery. 

About a half mile below London Bridge, is 
the famous Tower of London. On the wharf of 
the Tower, are sixty-one cannon handsomely 
mounted. These are fired on state occasions. A 
complete history of the Tower, teeming with in- 
terest as does the building, would fill volumes. 
The date of its foundation generally received is 
1076, although some suppose it to have been 
founded by Julius Caesar. There is still exhibited 
one tower called Caesar's Tower. William the 
Conqueror built many portions of it, if he did 
not found it. Almost every monarch succeeding, 
has added either a tower, or some building of 
antique shape and appearance. The word Tower 
is associated in the mind with the idea of some 
single, tall building. In this way I w r as misled 
by it, and was very agreeably disappointed by 
finding, instead of a tall plain looking build- 
ing, a tremendous pile of buildings, covering 
nearly thirteen acres. What originally was the 
Tower, was a square building of brick, seven or 
eight stories high, and enclosed within four 



CHAPEL OF ST. JOHN. 267 

towers. This was formerly a royal residence, but 
has degenerated into a state prison, a royal 
arsenal, and a place of safety for the jewelry be- 
longing to the crown. The entrance from the river 
into the Tower is by means of a drawbridge. 
There is also a gate placed deep in the water, and 
reaching above the water. The passage through 
this gate connected the ditch surrounding the 
Tower with the river. It was through this gate 
that prisoners were taken in boats to Westmin- 
ster for trial. On the west side, there are four 
entrances. These four are opened w r ith consider- 
able ceremony every morning at daylight. 

On the second floor of the White Tower, is 
a beautiful little chapel dedicated to St. John, In 
this Tower, King John of France, and several 
members of English royal families have been 
confined. In a little room below St. John's 
Chapel, Sir Walter Raleigh was detained a pris- 
oner. Another one of the four, the Bloody 
Tower, was the scene of the murder of the infant 
princes. In the Record Tower, Henry VI. w r as 
murdered, Near this Tower, is the Church of 
St. Peter, in which are buried Queen Ann Bo- 
leyn, and Queen Katharine Howard ; Lady Jane 



268 CKOWN JEWELS. 

Grey, and many others. In the armories are 
deposited the arms of all ages. Knights in coats 
of armor and mounted ; revolving muskets, car- 
bines, swords, and all other warlike weapons. In 
the different parts of the armory, there are arms 
enough to equip one hundred and fifty thousand 
men. The number of arms was formerly much 
greater, but a fire destroyed the majority of them 
in 1841. A small room, before the fire, alone 
contained arms enough to equip one hundred thou- 
sand men. Of twelve thousand muskets in that 
room, eleven thousand were destroyed. The 
Jewel House, is now the most attractive portion 
of the Tower. The finest articles in the collection 
are, the Crown of Victoria, (about to change 
ownership) ; the great Koh-i-noor ; and the 
Prince of Wales' Baptismal Font. The crown is 
about seven inches in diameter, and six high. 
The interior cap is of scarlet velvet, bound with 
ermine ; the gold bands which cross the velvet, 
are thickly set with diamonds, and cost several 
millions of dollars. The government of Hanover 
has beautifully played this crown into its hands. 
The Koh-i-noor, mountain of light, the largest 
diamond in the world, is, in daylight a dull com- 



TRINITY HOUSE. 269 

mon looking affair. In the Crystal Palace, where 
this was first exhibited, in order to show its bril- 
liancy, it was placed in a small glass house 
brightly lighted with gas. Thus showing clearly 
that even the most brilliant and costly diamond 
could not shine except in certain circumstances. 
What a good text for a sermon on position in 
life! 

The Prince of Wales' Baptismal Font, con- 
sists of a bowl about a foot and a half in diameter, 
and ten inches deep, with a richly carved lid. 
This rests upon a shaft, two and a half feet high, 
and six inches in diameter. The base is octago- 
nal. The entire font is of solid gold, richly 
ornamented with the rose, shamrock and thistle. 

North-west from the Tower, is Trinity House, 
which from the name and appearance, might be 
taken for an ecclesiastical establishment. On the 
contrary, it is the seat of the Trinity Corporation, 
for the improvement of light-houses on the coasts ; 
for collecting all harbor dues, regulating the sales 
of ballast, and everything else connected with the 
shipping of the metropolis. 

A short distance lower down the river, are 
the St. Katharine and London Docks. No ship 

23* 



270 DOCK COMPANIES. 

can enter the port of London without taking on 
board at Gravesend, some miles from the city, 
several custom-house officers who examine the 
cabins, lockers, stores and baggage. One of these 
officers, called tide-waiter, is left on board until 
the cargo is discharged, and the clearances signed. 
To render less difficult and annoying the various 
duties of the Custom House, and discharging car- 
goes, companies have been incorporated. The 
companies procured suitable situations, dug deep 
docks, connected with the river by means of 
locks ; built large water-houses and wine vaults, 
and enclosed the whole with high walls. Officers 
are stationed at every gate, so that not a single 
bundle, however small, can escape being exam- 
ined. Any one can take into the docks whatever 
he desires, but the same article cannot be brought 
out again without being examined. 

The Dock Companies, immediately a vessel 
is reported down the Thames, send their " run- 
ners," to endeavor to get the vessel to lay up in 
the docks in which respectively they are inter- 
ested. Each dock has its signal, so that it is 
known by the arrangement of the flag on the 



THE DOCKS. 271 

vessel, what dock she intends entering, conse- 
quently the locks are prepared in time. 

St. Katharine's Docks will contain two 
hundred large ships. The London Docks five 
hundred. The London Docks are more intimately 
connected with the government of Great Britain 
than any other. The wine vaults of the London 
Docks afford a very singular species of amusement. 
Very few visitors enter here without having 
obtained from some liquor merchant a " tasting 
ticket." This entitles the holder to ramble at 
will over the vaults attended by a servant of the 
Company. The servant taps for the " taster " 
any case of liquor desired, and the " taster " can 
taste from every case in the vaults, with only one 
proviso — i. e. if he remains in a state of con- 
sciousness whilst tasting from thousands of cases 
in a dozen vaults. 

However pure liquor may be when the vessel 
arrives at London Dock, it can only leave the 
wine vaults in a certain state. Brandies, for 
instance, coming pure from France must be 
proved, and if pure the Government derives a 
profit from it by making a large number of barrels 
out of a small number. The adulterating articles 



272 LONDON DOCK BKANDY. 

used by the Government are harmless, consisting 
principally of water. An injuriously adulterated 
liquor of any kind is not allowed to leave the 
Dock. Hence the great demand throughout the 
world for London Dock Brandy. "All is not 
gold that glitters," neither is all " London Dock 
Brandy " the genuine article. The London 
wholesale merchant buys the liquor from the 
company — he makes adulteration number two. 

The medium dealers who supply the foreign 
market purchases from the wholesale, — he makes 
number three. The foreign purchaser by the 
wholesale, finds it will not stand number four 
without something additional. In it goes. Every 
one through whose hands it passes adds a little to 
it — just like some piece of scandal — until eventu- 
ally, it is all a new article done up in a new style. 
But it is London Dock Brandy. 

The "furnaces" in the London Dock form 
another item of John Bullism. Contraband 
tobacco, American editions of English books, on 
which the owner does not see proper to pay the 
heavy duties, are burned. Tons of tobacco, taken 
by the pound and often less (three quarters of a 
pound the law allows a person to bring in free) 



DUTIES ON BOOKS. 273 

from the sailors, who do not often know anything 
about the law, are at all times burning in the 
furnaces. Why not " sold and the money given 
to the poor," or some of the government expenses 
paid ? 

Books often share the same fate as tobacco. 
I had, when I entered London, a number of books 
with me the majority of which from appearance 
had passed through several periods of " hard 
times." Every one of these was opened at the 
title page and carefully compared with a published 
sheet, in order to ascertain whether or not it was 
an American edition of an English work. Of 
these there happened to be about ten, the duty on 
some was " tupence" on others " threpence," They 
passed through several hands, some compared 
them with other editions, some recorded the titles, 
and at length, after detaining books and myself 
longer than the books were really worth, sentence 
was pronounced by a grey headed, portly, reverend, 
old-fashioned-English-inn-keeper looking gentle- 
man. " Has you, ave halready paid the hexpenses 
hov your baggage hexamination, ve vill hoverlook 
the triflink duties hon the books." 



CHAPTER XII. 

THAMES' TUNNEL. — GREENWICH. — MILL- 
WALL, AND THE "BIG SHIP."— BLACK WALL, 
THE EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCKS.— YICTO-. 
RIA DOCKS.— WOOLWICH. — GEAVESEND, AND 
THE UNITED STATES' WAR FRIGATES, "XI- 
AGRA," AND "SUSQUEHANNA." 



DOWN THE THAMES, (CONTINUED.) 

The Thames' Tunnel is the greatest novelty 
in London. This was designed and commenced 
many years ago, but the water broke through, 
filling the place in less than ten minutes, thus 
destroying the work of many months. In this 
state it remained until 1828, when I. Brunell Esq., 
formed a new design for the Tunnel, and simul- 
taneously invented a machine, called the " Shield." 

This shield was formed of platforms one above 
(274) 



THAMES' TUNNEL. 275 

the other, each platform large enough for several 
men to work on ; the whole affair being move- 
able as fast as the work of digging progressed. 
There was room enough on the shield for two 
dozen men to work ; thus, as fast as the Tunnel 
was dug, masons put up the sides and arched 
ceiling. The work in this manner proceeded at 
the rate of one foot a day. It was not completed 
until 1841. It now consists of two shafts, fifty- 
five feet in diameter, and seventy- five feet deep ; 
placed one on each side of the river, about one 
hundred feet from the water edge. Over each 
shaft is built a rotunda thirty feet high, thus 
making the shaft from the roof, one hundred and 
five feet deep. The rotundas are painted with 
landscapes of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, 
towers, palaces, and cascades, including a very 
good painting of Niagara Falls. From the top 
of the shaft around the wall, is a winding stair- 
case leading to the Tunnel. There are over one 
hundred steps in the descent. The echo is very 
great, and music, (of which there is at all times 
great abundance in the Tunnel,) as the strains 
echo along the arches and up the shafts, sounds 
particularly fine, though seldom proceeding from 



276 THAMES' TUNNEL. 

anything but hand-organs, or wandering-street 
musicians. 

The Tunnel is built of brick paved with stone, 
and consists of two rows of arches, each row 
twelve hundred feet long. The arches meet each 
other in the centre, and there rest upon stone 
columns thus forming two avenues divided by 
a tier of columns. From each shaft towards the 
centre the Tunnel inclines, thus resembling a 
vast stone suspension bridge under water rather 
than over. I have heard that the Tunnel has not 
answered the original purpose ; what that purpose 
was, I do not know. One thing I do know — it is 
of no use except to foot passengers, and the ex- 
penses of gas and attendance are met by charging 
a toll of one penny on each visitor. One row of 
arches is divided into a number of apartments, 
each apartment opening on the other avenue. In 
these apartments are penny shows, refreshment 
rooms, and fancy stores. Considerable value is 
attached to anything bought in the Thames' Tun- 
nel, and almost every article sold there, even the 
cakes and confectionary, has some picture or sen- 
tence concerning the work. 

Now was this Tunnel situated in Yankee 



RIVER BOATS. 277 

dominions, or had a portion of that denomina- 
tion control of it, it would be put to another use, 
and be made to pay ten times as well as it does. 
In the first place, ferry boats are unknown in 
London. I mean as Americans understand the 
word. A large steamboat that will hold a dozen 
wagons, horses and all, besides a crowd of people, 
and goes ahead backwards or any other how. A 
London ferry boat is large enough to seat two 
persons comfortably without any baggage or bun- 
dles. If a person in the neighborhood of the 
Tunnel desires crossing the river with articles 
of merchandize he can walk down one hundred 
steps along twelve hundred feet under the Thames, 
and up another hundred steps, feeling delightfully 
fatigued when he reaches the top. If he owns a 
horse or donkey team he is obliged to go round 
nearly ten miles to London Bridge. Now the 
shafts of the Thames' Tunnel are sufficiently large 
to admit in addition to the winding stair case, a 
moveable platform on which could be driven two 
or three small teams. The avenues are suffi- 
ciently large to admit carriage ways in addition 
to footwalks. There is not a Londoner but 
would prefer paying some toll, to driving ten 



278 REFLECTIONS. 

miles over the rough stones of the crooked streets 
of London. Instead of this long rough drive, he 
would drive his team on the platform, the opera- 
tor would give the signal and away he would go, 
whizzing, to the bottom. Mr. Horse or donkey 
would trot along the avenue, on to the other plat- 
form and go up as comfortably as if in his stall. 

Exactly under the middle of the river is a 
refreshment room, kept by an eccentric old man, 
who has not been a half mile from the Tunnel 
since it was completed. Daylight to him is 
almost unknown. He does not sleep in the Tun- 
nel, but he enters before day in the morning, and 
does not leave until late at night. This old man 
on account of his many wonderful stories and 
jokes, in addition to good cakes and wines, has 
many visitors. 

The sensations experienced as one sits here 
are very peculiar. A thin brick ceiling over 
head, covered with a few feet of mud, and many 
feet of water, with water trickling from the 
ceiling and through the walls ; — and steamers, 
ships and barges sailing along far above you ! — 
Many bright eyes of timid beauties, and ominous 
glances of frightened old men, have I seen 



GREENWICH. 279 

directed to the walls and ceiling as the crowd 
hurried along. 



Greenwich. 



1 Go, view the splendid domes of Greenwich, go, 
And own what raptures from reflection flow." 

( Hail, noblest structures imaged in the wave ! 
A nation's grateful tribute to the brave. 
Hail, blest retreats from war and shipwreck, hail ! 
That oft arrest the wondering stranger's sail. 
Long have ye heard the narratives of age, 
The battle's havoc, and the tempest's rage ; 
Long have ye known reflection's genial ray 
Gild the calm close of valor's various day.'' 

Rogers' Pleasures of Memory. 



There is nothing that reflects more to the 
credit of a nation than an ample provision made 
for the comfort and happiness of that nation's 
sick, disabled and superannuated seamen and 
soldiers. In this respect England may probably 
be ahead of the world although it would be hard 
to draw a very broad line of distinction between 
her and the United States in any matter of this 
nature. On arriving at Greenwich pier the first 
and almost only object of interest is the Hospital 
— "one of the noblest buildings in the world, 



280 HISTOEY. 

devoted to one of the noblest objects — public 
gratitude to the humble heroes of the country." 
The site of the Hospital was formerly that of a 
royal residence. Edward VI., died in the Palace 
that stood here. Charles II., tore the palace 
down and the often mentioned Sir Christopher 
Wren designed the Hospital. It consists of four 
large and magnificent buildings of stone, sur- 
mounted with domes, built upon two sides — or 
rather four corners of a square — thus leaving a 
broad court between the buildings. Two of the 
buildings have river fronts ; the remaining two 
front on the court and towards Flamstead House, 
the Royal Observatory on Greenwich Hill. It is 
from Flamstead House that the geographical 
degrees are reckoned. The Hospital buildings 
are respectively called King Charles's ; Queen 
Anne's. King William's and Queen Mary's 
Wards. The attractive spots of the wards, are 
the Chapel and the Painted Hall. The Chapel 
is in Queen Mary's Ward, The entrance hall is 
large and beautiful. In it there are several niches 
containing statues of Faith, Hope, Charity and 
Meekness. The wood and plaster work of the 
Chapel are carved and ornamented. It will seat 



west's paintings. 281 

fifteen hundred persons. Over the altar is one 
of West's finest paintings. It is a representation 
of St. Paul's escape from shipwreck on the Island 
of Malta. There are several other paintings by 
West, in different parts of the Chapel. The 
Painted Hall opposite the Chapel, in King 
Charles's Ward is so called from its beautifully 
painted ceiling, and the great number of paint- 
ings hung around the walls. The paintings 
generally represent sea fights, battles on lands, 
besieged cities, and portraits of British Admirals 
and their subordinate officers. There is not a 
painting in the Painted Hall, or in any other 
that I have seen, representing, or directly 
connected with any battle that took place in 1776, 
between England and her " thirteen colonies in 
North America.' ' Moreover I have not met with 
a dozen persons in England who seemed to know 
much about the American Revolution! This 
seems singularly, but very conveniently, to have 
been entirely forgotten. In the Painted Hall 
there are a great many curiosities and relics, and 
also Nelson's funeral car. 

The Hospital establishment consists of a 

governor, lieutenant-governor, eight lieutenants, 

24* 



282 DREADNOUGHT.. 

a large number of petty officers, two thousand 
seven hundred and thirty pensioners in the four 
buildings, thirty-two thousand one hundred out- 
pensioners, and seventy nurses. The in-pen- 
sioners receive their food and clothing and 
regular allowance of spending money suitable 
to their rank. The out-pensioners receive 
annually from twenty-three dollars, to one hun- 
dred and thirty-five dollars each. I made a 
number of acquaintances among these crippled 
and superannuated men of war, and spent several 
summer evenings very pleasantly seated among 
them, on the terraces overlooking the river, 
and listening to their tales of the olden time. In 
imagination they go through all the scenes of 
strife in which they have been engaged. They 
re-climb the walls of besieged cities, and gazing at 
their scars name each an honor. And each one in 
his account would seem to have the impression, 
that if he had not been just where he was in the 
battle, and had not done just what he did, the 
fortunes of war would certainly have been against 
them. 

Almost opposite Greenwich Hospital is a 
floating Hospital for sick and disabled seamen of 



MANAGEMENT. ^83 

all nations. This originated in 1817, on board 
the hull of an old war ship which in 1831, was 
exchanged for a much larger one. This was an 
old one hundred and four gun ship — by name 
the Dreadnought — a name from its Hospital 
associations familiar to everv seamen of the world 
whether or not he ever enjoyed its hospitalities. 
This continued the hospital until 1857, when it 
was considered unsafe and condemned, — one of 
similar size and appearance being substituted for 
it. This is finely fitted up, the rigging all taken 
out, and the spaces between decks arranged in 
different wards. In system it is conducted as 
other hospitals. It has a Superintendant, Sur- 
geons, Assistant Surgeons, Physicians, Visiting 
Physicians, Apothecary, Chaplain and others. 
To gain admission to the Dreadnought (by which 
name the hospital is yet called) it is only neces- 
sary for a seaman of any nation to be pre- 
sented alongside. His appearance in all cases is 
recommendation enough. If he wants clothing 
in addition to treatment this also is given him. 
Every patient is allowed to remain until per- 
fectly well. When thought to be beyond cure, 
on convalescent, if the patient desires it, con- 



284 GREAT EASTERN. 

veyance home is procured for him, to any part 
of the world. The annual expenses of the hos- 
pital are about fifteen thousand dollars, which 
amount is received only by voluntary contributions 
of the public. During the last few years about 
two thousand seamen born in the United States, and 
belonging to American ships, have been patients 
in the Dreadnought, of which number nearly all 
have recovered under the careful treatment of the 
Faculty. 

On the other side of the river from Green- 
wich, is Millwall where the great ship is building. 
The " Great Eastern," rising as it does like an 
immense wall of iron, high above the surrounding 
houses, is a sight as novel as it is interesting. 
She was designed by I. S. Brunell Esq., for the 
Great Eastern Navigation Company. To the top 
of St. Paul's Cathedral, the highest point in 
London, the distance is four hundred and Jive feet 
The length of the Great Eastern is six hundred 
and eighty feet. So that could the Great Eastern 
be raised upon one end she would tower two 
hundred and seventy-five feet above St. Paul's, 
and the upper end would be out of sight. She is 
eighty-three feet broad and sixty high. She is 



STEAM APPARATUS. 285 

entirely of iron. Up to the water mark there 
are two shells, or rather one hull placed in another, 
leaving between the two a space of three feet. 
f The plates of iron here are an inch in thickness ; 
above this a trifle thinner. There are two objects 
in view from this double hull. The first is, in 
case of a collision at sea. Should the outer hull 
be broken the interior hull will prevent any 
serious consequences. The second object, is in 
provision of a larger amount of ballast while at 
sea. This ballast can be obtained bv filling, or 
partly filling, the intervening space with water, 
by means of the pumps. The space will contain 
about two t/iousand Jive hundred tons of water, 
which alone is equal to the full tonnage of a first 
class clipper ship. 

The hull is divided into ten water-tight 
compartments, so that in case of accident any one 
or more parts can be guided independently of 
the remainder. The steam power to be employed 
is wonderful and almost incredible. She will 
have not only two tremendous paddle wheels, but 
also the largest screw propelling apparatus in the 
w r orld. Her steam power consists of ten boilers 
having five funnels. Each boiler requires ten 



286 " BIG SKIP." 

furnaces. Thus there are one hundred furnaces. 
In addition to the steam power there are seven 
masts, spreading about six thousand Jive hundred 
square yards of canvas. Mr. Brunell says she 
will sail eighteen miles an hour in any weather. 
Of course he knows. There are four paddle 
engines, with oscillating cylinders, each eighteen 
feet long and six feet two inches in diameter. 
These have fourteen feet stroke. Each engine is 
forty-five feet high and one thousand horse power. 
The diameter of the wheels is fifty-six feet each. 
The screw is equally wonderful in size and power. 
It is twenty-four feet in diameter and its connect- 
ing shaft one hundred and sixty feet long. The 
propellor engine is of sixteen hundred horse power. 
In addition to this steam, there are two small 
engines by which the pumps are worked, the sails 
hoisted, cargo taken in and discharged and several 
other things, done usually by hand. A vast 
amount of time and expense will thus be saved. 

The " big ship " will carry four thousand 
passengers, independently of a crew and list of 
officers numbering altogether four hundred. In 
addition to the passengers she will carry twenty 
thousand tons of freight. The anchors and other 



ENORMOUS DIMENSIONS. 287 

fixtures are proportionally large. One of her 
small deck boats is a steam boat as large as any- 
sailing on the Thames. The ship is to be lighted 
entirely with gas, the manufacture of which is to 
be carried on very extensively on board. The 
saloons will be indiscribably grand. The wood 
carvings rich, and the furniture of palatial 
magnificence. 

The progress of the work has been so 
interrupted by visitors, that an admission fee of 
sixty cents was deemed necessary. But so great 
was the public curiosity that the number instead 
of diminishing daily increased. 

The intention of its great length is that it 
may ride three waves of the Atlantic, thus pre- 
venting the disagreeable pitching of the steamers 
in general. It may succeed in this, but it is so 
high and narrow that, as is evident to any observer 
its rocking will be awful. Of the two evils 
pitching is decidedly the least. To be " rocked 
on the bosom of the deep " sounds well enough in 
poetry, but the writer of that like the author of 
11 A Life on the Ocean Wave " has evidently 
never been to sea in a storm. 



288 BLACKWALL. 

" That man may have sailed in a boat, 
In some puddle or on a sound ; 
But if he has ever been to sea and wrote 
Such a song, he deserves to be drowned." 



Blackwall. 

Some distance below Millwall on the same 
side is Blackwall; of which the most attractive 
part is the extensive terrace high above the river, 
and from which there is an extended view up and 
down. This terrace is crowded with pleasure 
seekers every pleasant afternoon. The best view 
of river gaieties is also had here. Rowing 
matches on an extensive scale take place almost 
daily. The crowds of the friends of the com- 
petitors, all anxious for the success of certain 
ones, their various exclamations of applause or 
disapproval, ladies waving their handkerchiefs, 
flags flying, and the terrible noise from the 
surrounding ship-yards combine to make an 
exhilerating scene. During the hours of rowing 
the entire river, as far as the eye can reach, seems 
perfectly alive with all kinds of boats, loaded to 
overflowing with ladies and gentlemen. The 
ladies of London, enjoy and take almost as active 



SHIP-YARDS. 291 

a part in rowing matches as do the gentlemen. 
This is the case however, in nearly all the out 
door exercises. The boats used in these trials of 
skill, by the competitors, are composed of very 
light wood, They are often twelve feet long, one 
and a half broad, only a few inches deep, having 
but one opening in the centre large enough for 
a single person. They are perfectly sharp at each 
end and to the central opening are level with the 
water. 

The ship-yards around Blackwall are very 
celebrated. Here, some of the largest ships in 
the British Navy have been built. Some of these 
yards employ between two and three thousand 
men. 

The East and West India Docks, situated at 
Blackwall, are under laws and companies similar 
to those of St. Katharine's and London. The East 
India Docks, are appropriated especially to the 
merchant-ships of the East India Company. The 
store houses of this dock are in the city, and at 
all times are filled with the most costly goods. 
Victoria Docks, a short distance from Blackwall, 
are the largest and best docks in London. They 
are comparatively new, and, although commenced 



292 woolwich. 

many years ago, they are not yet completed. 
Business, however, is carried on. They are rather 
inconvenient to the city, but nevertheless, will 
prove in time, vastly injurious to all other docks. 
Woolwich, a small town, is large in import- 
ance. It is a dirty, unpaved, hilly spot, and 
resembles some of the lowest suburbs of London. 
It owes its importance to the Government Dock 
Yards, Barracks, Arsenal, and Shell Factory. It 
boasts a Theatre, for the display of the legitimate 
drama; and to crowded houses nightly, shine 
forth in all their glory, " Jack Sheppard," " Betsy 
Baker," extracts from " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 
and many other similarly instructive and enter- 
taining tragedies. Admission to private boxes, 
threepence, other parts of the house accordingly. 
The principal, in fact, the only law of the house 
is, " Boys cotched in the act of throwing horange 
peal at the gentlemen solgers from the barracks, 
shall be PUT HOUT." There are several public 
gardens in Woolwich ; all of which are greatly 
resorted to in the Summer, by the inhabitants of 
the Mgtropolis, The Royal Military Academy, 
forms one of the interesting features of Wool- 
wich. There are hero, about two hundred cadets. 



THE BARRACKS. 293 

These pass monthly examinations, and according 
to the professor's report, are promoted to vacant 
commissions. This building was established as 
an Arsenal in 1719, and was chartered as an 
Academy in 1741, by George II. 

The Barracks are a tremendous pile of build- 
ings, containing chapels, libraries, reading-rooms, 
mess-rooms, parlors, and a tedious assortment of 
apartments. The building is of stone, with a 
front of about fifteen hundred feet. There is 
ample accommodation in the building for about 
five thousand men. 

There are foundries for cannon, shells, and 
other weapons of destruction, the details of which 
would prove of great length. In the Arsenal are 
all kinds of ancient and modern fire-arms, mail 
armor, and camp equipage. 

The Dock Yard is exceedingly interesting, but 
to this, no foreigner is admitted. On entering the 
gate, the police enquire and register the visitor's 
name, residence, and occupation. Although a 
foreigner, I succeeded in gaining admission, with- 
out passing through the required forms. Every- 
thing required for the use of a large Navy is at 
at all times in readiness here. 

25 



294 IIDE WAITERS. 

Gravesend, several miles below Woolwich, 
is a very pretty country town, and the general 
terminus for the down-river steamboats. It is 
well laid out, picturesquely built, but looks mise- 
rable from the river. It should be turned around. 
I have frequently walked about the town, but 
never could see anything worth particular time 
and attention, save only about a half dozen hand- 
some young ladies. 

The chief part of the population consists of 
tide waiters. These are a kind of an embryo or 
sub custom-house officers, whose duty it is to 
attend at all times to the Custom House, and 
when a ship is reported coming up, a certain 
number are elected by lottery to go on board. 
These go with the ship into whatever dock she 
goes, and remain on board until the cargo is dis- 
charged, at the ship's expense. 

There has been quite a rush of the London- 
ers to Gravesend for some time, owing to the fact 
that two of the United States' Frigates of War 
are anchored just off the piers. Speculation con- 
cerning the why and wherefore of their being 
here, runs pretty high among a certain class. 



SURMISES. 295 

They are the Niagara and Susquehanna, which in 
conjunction with several British steamers, are 
going to lay (perhaps !) the Atlantic cable, between 
the United States and Great Britain. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER, OR, THE 
NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. — HISTORY. — 
DESCRIPTION. — THE PRINCES' CHAMBER. — 
THE HOUSE OF LORDS.— THE THRONE. — PAR- 
LIAMENTARY ANECDOTES. — ST S STEPHENS' 
AND WESTMINSTER HALLS. — THE HOUSE OF 
COMMONS. — THE MEMBERS: — ELECTIVE COM- 
PANIES. 

Neak St. James' Park and Westminster 
Abbey, stands an immense pile of buildings, 
which, although commenced many years ago, and 
now occupied, are not, and will not for a long 
time be completed. The site of the new Houses 
of Parliament, historians inform us, has been 
occupied by some royal residence, since the days 
of Edward the Confessor. To the first buildings 
some additions were made by William the Con- 
queror, and his successor, but were nearly all 

(296) 



HISTORY. 297 

destroyed by fire in 1299. Some years before the 
fire, on New Year's day — it is said that Henry 
III., feasted six thousand poor persons, and had 
placed upon the tables, over thirty thousand 
dishes of meat. The building remaining after 
the fire of 1299, was again attacked by the de- 
vouring element in 1512. This fire left only St. 
Stephens' Chapel, and a large hall entire. A 
third fire occurred in 1834. The ruins of the 
three fires were not repaired, and soon, it was re- 
solved to build a new palace. The fruits of that 
resolution are the present buildings. The style 
of architecture adopted, is a degenerated Gothic — 
" Viewed as a composition, or creation of form, 
the New Parliament Houses, grandiose in dimen- 
sions and gorgeous in decorations, shows not one 
ray of inventions, not one touch of original con- 
ception, not one suggestion of sentiment, or one 
breathing of life. It resembles a cast-iron stove 
on a great scale, or a cast-iron railing, in which 
a common-place form is repeated insipidly without 
modification." The material employed is, for the 
greater part, hard magnesian limestone. The build- 
ings are fire-proof, and cover an area of about eight 
acres. There are four fronts, of which the most 



298 ARCHITECTURE. 

unbroken is the Eastern or River Front, built 
immediately on the edge of the Thames. This 
front is about nine hundred and fifty feet long, 
with large wings on each end, thus leaving in the 
intervening space, a fine broad and paved terrace, 
seven hundred feet long, and overlooking the 
river. All the external spaces between the win- 
dows are enriched with sculptures, all having 
some immediate connection w r ith the country's 
history op to the present Sovereign. The North 
and South fronts have the same stvle of decora- 
tions as the river front. The South front termi- 
nates to the West, in the Victoria Tower. The 
AVest front is broken more than the others, and 
from its many entrances, arches, turrets, and the 
clear view of its steep slate roofs, looks exceed- 
ingly picturesque. The Victoria Tower, just 
mentioned, is the largest square tower in the 
world, being seventy-five feet square at the base, 
and three hundred and forty-five feet high. 
Another tower called the Clock Tower, is in course 
of erection. There is still another tower, called 
from its position, the Central Tower, differing in 
form from both of the others. In addition to 
these three principal towers, there are many small 



FIRST FLOOR. 299 

ones rising up from different points along the 
walls. On the first floor, besides many small 
rooms, there are eleven large courts, several of 
which are incomplete. The Speaker's Court, 
(being the entrance to the Speaker's official resi- 
dence.) The Commons Court. The Commons 
Inner Court. The Peers' Inner Court. Peers' 
Court, and the Royal Court, through which I 
passed into the Victoria Tower. Then, I turned 
to the left, ascended the Ro}<al staircase, and at 
the top, entered the Norman Porch. In the Porch 
are a number of pedestals on which is intended 
to be placed statues of the Norman Kings. On 
my right, I passed the Royal Robing Room, but 
of this, I could catch only a passing glimpse, on 
account of its imperfect condition. The present 
appearance is quite dazzling, how much more so 
it will be when finished, I could hardly imagine, 
as about eight years of hard labor are yet to be 
bestowed upon it. Hence, passing through a 
large stone archway, I entered the Royal Gallery. 
This is a magnificent room, one hundred and ten 
feet long, forty-five broad, and forty-five high. 
It is also incomplete. Hence, to the Princes' 
Chamber. This is merely a vestibule to the 



300 princes' chamber. 

House of Lords. Here, the Queen is received by 
a deputation appointed, when she enters to attend 
Parliament. The apartment, similar to all others 
is highly decorated. All the windows, arches, 
and doorways are surrounded with stone wreath- 
ings of the rose and fleur-de-lis. On the north 
wall, are curtains of damask, with deep gold 
fringes, concealing a niche in which is to be 
placed a statue of Queen Victoria. The windows 
are of stained glass, each pane containing boquets 
of the Shamrock, the rose, and the thistle, (the 
flowers emblematic of Ireland, England, and 
Scotland,) surmounted by crowns. Between and 
under the windows, are sunken panels for wood 
bassi relievi. The ceiling of the Princes' Cham- 
ber, is an elaborate piece of workmanship. It is 
divided into numerous compartments, each of 
which is richly decorated. The groundwork of 
the ceiling is dark-blue. The various compart- 
ments contain shields, upon which are engraved 
the arms of England, Ireland, and Scotland. 
The borders are of fleur-de-lis, and crowns. The 
fire-places in the chamber attract probably as 
much attention as any other object. In London, 
stoves and cellar-heaters are very seldom met 



EMBLEMATIC ORNAMENTS. 301 

with. The old-fashioned grates are in general 
use, even in the kitchens. In the fire-places of 
the Princes' Chamber, the recess for fire, consists 
of a low arched space, deeply set in the walls, the 
sides and back covered with red and blue en- 
caustic tiles, having on them the lions of England. 
The spandrels of the arch are decorated with 
Tudor roses, gilded, from which flow large en- 
twined branches of shamrock and thistle. Over 
the arch, in a panel, are three quatrefoils contain- 
ing shields bearing the arms of England, Ireland 
and Scotland with their respective mottoes, 
" Dieu et mon Droit," " Quis Separabit," and 
" Xemo me Impune Lacessit." Hence, I passed 
to the chief room of the buildings, — the " House 
of Lords." The apartment is ninety feet long, 
forty-five wide, and forty-five high. By some, 
this is said to be the finest specimen of Gothic 
architecture in the world, others, equally able to 
judge, say not. It is lighted by twelve tremen- 
dous windows of stained glass, each window 
divided into a number of compartments. Six 
windows contain, stained in the glass, the por- 
traits of the Sovereigns of England ; three, those 

of Scotland, before the two crowns were united ; 

26 



302 PAINTED WINDOWS. 

and the remaining three, those of Great Britain, 
In all, there are ninety-six life-size portraits. At 
each end of the house are fresco paintings, simi- 
lar in size and appearance to the windows. The 
group over the throne, consists of Edward III. 
conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black 
Prince. The Baptism of St. Ethelbert. And 
Prince Henry acknowledging the authority of 
Judge Gascoigne. The group back of the strang- 
ers' gallery, consists of the Spirit of Justice ; the 
Spirit of Religion ; and the Spirit of Chivalry. 
The window-sills are about ten feet above the 
floor. There are panels and niches under and 
betw r een the windows for statues and bassi relievi. 
The ceiling of the house is divided into eighteen 
large squares, and these in turn divided into four. 
It is painted deep-blue, finely gilded and orna- 
mented. Each point where the beams cross to 
form the squares, is covered by a lozenge-shaped 
ornament, containing crowns, falcons, dragons, 
greyhounds, and other emblems of royalty. The 
borders of the squares, contain roses, fleur-de-lis, 
crosses and lions. I, as I suppose all republicans 
would be, was greatly disappointed in the throne. 
Compared with my imaginings, and the descrip- 



THE THRONE. 303 

tions I have read of the English throne, it is no 
throne at all. Instead of being a tremendous 
chair of gold, set with precious stones, with pur- 
ple and gold cushions, stuffed with diamond dust, 
it is only a small chair of gilded brass, neatly 
carved, cushions of plain velvet and stuffed with 
rags, saw-dust, wool, or something similar. It is 
so small that a woman the breadth of Victoria, 
will be obliged to dispense with modern fashions, 
when she occupies it. The chair rests upon four 
couchant lions. The back is gabled, containing 
a quatrefoil ornament, having in its centre V. R. 
entwined with a cord. The cushions of the back 
are embroidered with silk. Around these is a 
narrow border composed of rock crystal and en- 
ameled lions alternately. The chair resembles in 
form the ornamental walnut chairs, now so fashi- 
onable in American parlors. On each side of the 
throne are chairs similarly formed, for the Prince 
Albert, and the Prince of Wales. 

In the House of Lords, like some other 
legislative halls I have seen and heard of, many 
singular scenes have taken place ; and it is not a 
little strange that historians record very minutely 
such scenes when very many important things are 



304 POPULAR OUTBREAK. 

unnoted. The Parliamentary History is replete 
with such scenes. For instance " when Lord 
George Gordon presented the monster petition 
from the Protestant association to the House of 
Commons, an infuriated protestant mob had 
taken possession of the Palace Yard and the 
surrounding streets ; Lord Mansfield s carriage was 
attacked, and his windows were broken ; Lords 
Hillborough, Townshend, and Stourmount were 
in danger of their lives ; the Duke of Northumber- 
land was forced out of his carriage, robbed, and 
his clothes torn to pieces. The Lords who had 
met to consider, curiously enough, the Duke of 
Richmond's scheme for annual parliaments and 
universal suffrage, were in a terrible state of 
perturbation. At first they resolved to play the 
part of Roman Senators, and to be masacred at 
their posts. But fear triumphed ; Lord Montfort, 
looking ghastly, and covered all over with mud 
and hair-powder, burst into the assembly, and 
began to vociferate : the Duke of Richmond 
appealed to the woolsack for protection ; Lord 
Mansfield tried to restore order, but Lord Mont- 
fort insisted on being heard in " an affair of life 
and death ; for Lord Boston, coming to his duty 



LORD CHATHAM. 30o 

as a peer of parliament had been dragged out of 
his carriage by the mob, who would certainly 
murder him if he were not immediately rescued 
from their violence." "At this instant" says 
the Parliamentary History " it is hardly possible 
to conceive a more grotesque appearance than the 
house exhibited. Some of their lordships with 
their hair about their shoulders ; others smothered 
with dirt ; most of them as pale as the ghost in 
Hamlet; and all of them standing up in their 
several places, and speaking at the same instant. 
One lord proposed to send for the guards, another 
for the justices or civil magistrates, another for 
the coroner, and many crying out " adjourn, 
adjourn," while the skies resounded with the 
huzzas, shoutings, hootings, and hissings in 
Palace Yard. This scene of unprecedented alarm 
continued for about half an hour." 

Decidedly the most interesting, and to 
Americans, the most touching scene recorded is 
the well known last day of Chatham. The 
occasion was the recognition of American Inde- 
pendence. Chatham had been very sick and the 
rapidly increasing infirmities of age had made 

the strong man weak. Pale and emaciated he 

26* 



306 LAST SPEECH- 

went to the house wrapt up in flannel, and sup- 
ported by friends. " Within his large wig, little 
more was to be seen than his aquiline nose and 
penetrating eye, He looked like a dying man, 
yet never was seen a picture of more dignity. He 
rose slowly from his seat, leaning on his crutches 
and supported under each arm by his two friends. 
He took one hand from his crutch, and raising it, 
cast his eyes towards Heaven, and said, " I thank 
God, that I have been enabled to come here this 
day, to perform my duty, and speak on a subject 
which has so deeply impressed my mind. I am 
old and infirm ; I have more than one foot in the 
grave ; I am risen from my bed, to stand up in 
the cause of my country ; perhaps, never again 
to speak in this house." The reverence, the at- 
tention, the stillness of the house were most 
affecting. If any one had dropped his handker- 
chief, it would have been heard. At first, he 
spoke in a low and feeble tone ; but as he grew 
warm, his voice rose, and was as harmonious as 
ever ; once more the old flame burnt brightly, 
and the feeble, tottering cripple was again the 
mighty orator of his manhood's prime. As Chat- 
ham was sitting down, his brother-in-law, Lord 



HIS DEATH, 307 

Temple, said to him, " You forgot to mention 
what we talked of; shall I get up ?" Chatham 
said, " No, no, I will ; I will do it by and by," 
This, by and by never came. After the Duke of 
Richmond had spoken, Chatham again attempted 
to rise, but his shattered frame, was unequal to 
the feelings of the dying orator. He fell back in 
a swoon. The whole house was agitated ; political 
friends and political foes, were alike alarmed. 
The scene was impressive. It needed not art to 
commemorate the great man, struck down in the 
scene of his ancient greatness. Art cannot 
heighten the interest of that reality. From the 
Chamber of Peers to Hayes, from Hayes to 
Westminster Abbey, to mingle his ashes with 
those of others of England's illustrious sons, were 
steps thence easily taken — steps the immortal 
Chatham speedily took. A few days, and Eng- 
land mourned, — her greatest statesman dead." 

Scenes like this are unprecedented. Scenes 
arising from abusive words and ridicule are of 
more frequent occurrence, although the House of 
Lords is creditably exempt from these. An ex- 
citement of this kind, said to be the greatest that 
ever occurred among the lords, originated from 



308 OTHER SCENES. 

certain explanations made by some lords concern- 
ing the position of ministers relative to the Ire- 
land Coercion Bill. The Duke of Buckingham 
concluded a government attack by saying : — " The 
noble and learned lord on the woolsack, (Lord 
Brougham) and his colleagues think they have 
buried the noble earl in his political sepul- 
chre, and that he will never more disturb them ; 
but they will find themselves mistaken ; the 
spirit of the noble earl will burst its cerements, 
and will haunt them in their festivities, and dis- 
turb the noble and learned lord on the woolsack, 
in the midst of his potations pottle deep." Of 
course a tremendous uproar followed. Several 
arose to speak, but the floor was yielded to the 
" noble and learned lord on the woolsack," Lord 
Brougham, who said, u As to the concluding 
observations of the noble Duke, all I shall say is, 
that I do not frequent the same cabaret, or ale- 
house, as he does, (deafening cries of order,) at 
all events, (continued Lord Brougham, with in- 
creased energy.) I do not recollect having met 
the noble Marquis (Londonderry,) at the noble 
duke's ale-house potations ; — my lords, I have 
not a slang dictionary at hand. "Here," says 



LORD BROUGHAM. 309 

the History, " A whole host of noble lords rose, 
amidst deafening uproar, to address the house. 
Lord Brougham remained sometime on his legs 
as if desirous of proceeding; but the confusion 
and noise in all parts of the house, were so great 
as to render any effort to obtain a hearing alto- 
gether hopeless. The shout of 'order,' was 
absolutely deafening, and Lord Brougham at last 
resumed his seat without uttering another word." 
From the House of Lords, I went to the 
Peers' Lobby. The Lobby in richness of design 
and decorations, is next to the house. Over the 
doorways in the east and west end, are six arches, 
within which are painted the arms of the six 
lines of Sovereigns who have reigned in England 
— Saxon, jNTorman, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart, 
and Hanover. Under the South arch, are two 
gates of solid brass, "weighing over one and a half 
tons each, and of splendid design. They resem- 
ble somewhat, but are inferior to those previously 
described, in the Chapel of Henry VII., Westmin- 
ster Abbey. The floor, as is the case with that of 
every hall, entry, and lobby in the building, is of 
the finest colored marbles richly inlaid with brass. 
In the w r alls around the lobby, are many gate- 



310 st. Stephen's. 

ways leading to the dining, tea and refreshment 
rooms and kitchens ; all of which are conveniently 
arranged and nobly sustained for the advantage 
and interior comfort of the members during 
sessions. 

Passing through several fine apartments, 
including a large Central Hall, and a magnificent 
but incomplete suite of rooms designed for the 
Peers' Libraries, I started for the House of Com- 
mons, by way of St. Stephen's and Westminster 
Halls. There has been since the reign of King 
Stephen, a hall dedicated to St. Stephen, occupy- 
ing the site of the present hall. After being 
several times destroyed, Edward II. built a mag- 
nificent affair in 1330. This, the fire of 1834 
did not entirely destroy, so that the present St. 
Stephen's, may be said to be only the old one 
repaired in its antique style. The windows are 
filled with costly stained glass, representing scenes 
in the life of St. Stephen. The ceiling is entirely 
of stone, and on this is sculptured the martyr- 
doms of St. Stephen, — St. Paul, — St. John and 
others. Around the sides of the doorways in the 
east and west ends are full length statues of 
Richard L, Berengaria, John, Matilda, Henry, 



WESTMINSTER HALL. 311 

Eleanor, William the Conqueror, two other Ma- 
tildas, William II., Henry I., and Stephen. 
Around the walls on large pedestals, are colossal 
statues of many of England's greatest men. 
Seldon, Lord Chatham, Lord Mansfield, Burke, 
Fox, Pitt, Grattan. 

Westminster Hall was built originally in 
1097. Since then, on account of time's desolat- 
ing hand, it has several times been almost rebuilt. 
With Westminster, there is connected much that 
is interesting. Here, for over seven of England's 
most interesting centuries, assembled Kings, 
Queens, Earls, Barons, Lords and Ladies, at 
merry banquets, gorgeous ceremonies, and many 
exciting State trials. Now, at every step, the 
hall shows the encroachments made upon the 
ancient building by modern reformists. If the 
ghost of some " Old English gentleman," should 
pay a visit to the hall, where once in the flesh he 
spent many jovial hours, his ghostship would 
hardly recognize the spot. 

The Lobby of the House of Commons is 
similar in appearance, but much smaller than 
that of the House of Lords. The style of archi- 
tecture in the House of Commons is designated 



312 HOUSE OF COMMONS. 

an original composition. Its originality is rather 
questionable; a composition it certainly is, and 
a disproportional one at that. The apartment is 
seventy-five feet long, forty-five wide, and forty- 
one high. The members' seats are arranged 
around the wall, each tier rising about one foot 
above the next tier below. The arrangement is 
the same as the House of Lords, with the excep- 
tions of there being in the Commons no cross 
seats, and a table occupying the place of the 
woolsack. On the table lies the mace which 
Oliver Cromwell used, or rather, from its appear- 
ance, abused. The Speaker's chair is at the 
north-end. On the right of this is the ministerial 
bench, while directly opposite is the bench for the 
opposition leaders. There are several galleries 
for ladies, strangers, and peers who desire to 
attend the debates in the Commons. The deco- 
rations are very inferior to those of the upper 
house. The members also have their libraries, 
dining, tea and refreshment rooms. There is a 
large smoking -room for all the members. The 
style of this is very appropriate, decidedly " gay 
but not gaudy." The floor is of colored encaustic 
tiles ; the walls to the height of six feet, -are lined 



11 SCENES." 315 

with china slabs; and the ceiling is of hard 
cement, supported by stone columns. The furni- 
ture and everything in the room is non-smoke- 
absorbing. Along on one side are broad door- 
ways, leading to a wide-covered terrace overlook- 
ing the river. In the summer, the members use 
the terrace as a smoking retreat. 

Scenes in the House of Commons are of very 
frequent occurrence, and partake of all characters 
from boxing matches to simple absurdities. Of 
the former named, quite a large number are 
recorded, of the latter, the two instances following 
are excellent specimens. " One morning as usual 
the house met, but the speaker was not there. 
The house was much alarmed, and very probably 
went to prayers. A message was then received 
from the speaker, 4 That he was extremely pained 
in his stomach, insomuch, that he could not go 
into the air without great peril, but that he 
trusted in God to attend them next day.' All 
the members being very sorry for Mr. Speaker's 
illness, rested well satisfied, and so the house did 
rise, and every man departed away." 

"A young member by the name of Shep- 
hard — we know nothing more of the mail — in a 



316 SUNDAY SPOETS. 

speech for a bill for the better observance of the 
Sabbath-day, says: — 'Every one knoweth that 
Dies Sabbati is Saturday, so that you would forbid 
dancing on Saturday ; but to forbid dancing on 
Sunday, is in the face of the King's Book of 
Sports, and King David said, " Let us praise God 
in a dance." This being a point of Divinity, let 
us leave it to divines ; and since King David and 
King James did both bid us dance, let us not 
make a statute against dancing. He that pre- 
ferred this bill is a disturber of the peace, and a 
puritan.' Sir Edward Coke delivers a severe 
reply. The house becomes indignant, and poor 
Shephard on his knees hears, " That the house 
doth remove him from the service of this house, 
as being unworthy to be a member thereof." 

From the present appearances, externally 
and internally, of the new Houses of Parliament, 
it is a matter of but little difficulty to imagine 
what degree of grandeur will pervade the whole 
when it is finished. Ten or fifteen years will pass 
before that time comes. Many statues and fres- 
coes ; many square feet of painting, gilding and 
carving, and many yards of paving will have to 



HEPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM. 317 

be added before the architects can say, "it is 
finished." 

The present list of members of the House 
of Peers, numbers four hundred and fifty-one; 
of whom there are sixteen called Representative 
Peers, for Scotland. These are elected every 
parliament. There are also twenty-eight repre- 
sentative Peers for Ireland, elected for life. The 
officers of the House of Peers number about 
seventy. 

In the House of Commons, there are nearly 
seven hundred members, and sixty officers. The 
Members of the House of Peers hold their seats 
on account of their titles, and like their titles 
tiiey are hereditary. The members of the House 
of Commons, are called the representatives of the 
people ; but are elected in the different districts 
in which they reside, by a stated number of per- 
sons of every trade and profession. These persons 
form companies — called elective companies. Of 
these there are ninety-one. About sixty'of which 
possess large public halls, in which their meet- 
ings are held. Thus the members of the House 
of Commons, may be more appropriately termed 
the representatives of a class. 

27* 



CHAPTER XIV. 

HOTELS. — COFFEE AND CHOP HOUSES.— 
GIN PALACES— BOARDING HOUSES.— MISERIES 
OF BOARDING. 

The American definition of hotel is a build- 
ing covering several acres of ground, in height, 
any number of stories above six. The interior 
of which is arranged and conducted with every 
consideration for the comfort and convenience of 
guests. Magnificent rooms for reading and writ- 
ing, containing books and papers from every part 
of the world. Bar-rooms, with marble floors and 
counters, stained glass windows and costly furni- 
ture. Dining and supper rooms, in which a 
thousand persons can sit ; the tables covered with 
as many dishes as ever appeared at a coronation 
dinner. If in the North an awkward, stepping- 

on-your-toes, officious Irish waiter behind every 

(318) 



ENGLISH HOTELS. 319 

chair ; if in the South a pleasant looking, fat, 
merry, bowing and scraping used-to-the-business 
darkey, occupying the same position. Bed-rooms 
perfect ; sheets immaculate ; a place in which to 
retire perfectly assured that you will not be 
awakened by an invisible bed-fellow asserting 
priority of possession, and that in a manner so 
sharp as not to be disregarded. Everything all 
over the house in perfect order ; not a particle of 
dust, a broom, or a bucket to be seen, so that the 
only wonder is, when is the work done ; who does 
it ! and how ! 

The English definition is as contrary to this 
as it is possible to imagine. The building is not 
higher than three stories, and not over twenty or 
thirty feet broad by seventy-five deep. Gro to the 
house at or after dark and it is as hard to gain 
admission as it is to the pyramids of Egypt. Go 
in the daytime, knock at the door ; an impudent 
English youth in knee breeches, powdered hair 
and white cravat opens it, and shows you 
to the proprietor's room, allowing you to carry 
your baggage until he is certain that you are 
about to become an inmate of the house for a 
time ; he is then as servilely polite as before he 



320 ANNOYANCES. 

was impudent. Bar-rooms, reading rooms, dining 
rooms and supper rooms are all combined in one 
designated the "parlor." Established in the 
parlor you find English papers in abundance. 
If it is meal time order whatever you desire, 
you can have it, provided it happens to be in 
the house. They seem always to be "just out " of 
everything called for, and a breakfast or supper 
generally includes only "heggs hand bacon," 
very good bread and butter, and generally miser- 
able coffee. Pay for your meals as you get them — 
even if you board in the house a month. At bed 
time, shown to a wretchedly uncomfortable room ; 
board partitions all around, cracks in them wide 
enough to allow one, without his assistance or 
desire, to see all the mysteries of his male or 
female neighbor's dressing apparatus, and to hear 
all secrets. Get into bed, sheets been used by 
unknown visitors for at least a week before your 
arrival, and presently discover the soul-harrowing 
presence of " legions " — not of angels but — of 
tormenting imps. Enter the parlor at nine o'clock 
in the morning it is all shut up, not a paper 
brought in, nor yet swept, and if it should be in 
the winter time not a fire made. Of hotels 



QUEER NAMES. 321 

making some pretensions to elegance there are 
about fifteen. But of these, the best, in com- 
parison with the American hotels is insignificant. 
Lower class hotels — taverns — beer shops — and 
gin palaces are numberless. Their names form a 
curious item. There are seventy bearing the 
" grapes " — sixty-five " ships " — eighty " crowns" 
two hundred and fifty " white horses," " white 
swans," " white lions," and other white animals— 
in addition to these " king's arms," " queen's 
arms," " feathers," " fountains " " anchors " and 
" bells " flourish in great variety. Wealthy 
gentlemen residing any length of time in London, 
if unaccompanied by ladies and possessing an 
influential friend, can find a comfortable altern- 
ative by joining a club and making their abode at 
the club house. These club houses are quite 
celebrated and some of them comparatively 
grand.* 

Those not remaining long, or not being fortu- 
nate enough to become a member of a club can 
find without difficulty a very comfortable coffee 



* Clubs originated in the time of Queen Elizabeth. At the old "Mermaid 
Tavern " Shakspeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Beaumont and Fletcher with others 
held a club meeting. There are now 40 clubs with 25,000 members. 



322 ENGLISH BEEF. 

and chop house of which in every five minutes 
walk can be seen a dozen. To strangers and 
travellers these are certainly the most convenient 
stopping places in London. The prices are all 
about the same, although the better the appearance 
of the house the better is found the quality of 
the edibles. A good London chop house is a fine 
school for the study of John Bull nature. Here 
in one stall sits a wayworn traveller, in the next 
a poor poet, in another a statesman, in another a 
soldier, in another a tradesman, all intent on two 
things, eating a steak or chop and reading the 
23aper. A paper is of as much importance to an 
English meal as knife and fork. 

So much has been written and said concern- 
ing English beef and mutton that these have 
become celebrated in poetry, music, and prose. 
I believe their only superiority consists in the 
English manner of cooking. Certain it is that 
the English meats I have eaten in America were 
inferior to those of the American markets and 
this inferiority originated in the different modes 
of cooking. Nine hundred and ninety-nine in 
every thousand of Americans cooks will take a 
roast of beef or joint of mutton — put it in a pan — 



LIQUOR BUSINESS. 323 

cover it up with water, salt, pepper, sage, and 
numberless other things, place it altogether in a 
hot oven, allow it to bake all the juice and natural 
taste away, place it upon the table and call it 
roast beef or roast mutton. Now an English 
cook would take the same piece of meat, hang it 
on the hook of a jack suspended from the mantle 
in front of the grate, and there it turns and turns 
until the whole is cooked and all sides alike. 
The dripping is caught in a dish placed under 
the meat. Perfectly respectable looking it makes 
its appearance on the table. Those at the table 
eat it in peace and goodwill to all mankind, 
especially the cook and butler, and beyond this 
feel profound respect for the remains of the 
murdered animal. A noble institution is good 
cooking. If those who have all their lives 
been eating meat cooked in the American fashion 
will just introduce grates and become converts to 
the English mode, England's beef and mutton 
reputation will soon die away. 

The liquor business is carried on in London, 
certainly to a greater extent than is any other. 
There is a wall known London boast, that " ±$o 
one drinks water." This is literally true. The 



324 DRINKING. 

rich, with meat and vegetables, drink the best 
ale and stout ; and wines, brandies and cordials, 
with dessert. No beggar so poor but that he can 
afford to spend threpencefor his pint of " af-naf," 
or stout. 

At wedding parties, baptisms, social gather- 
ings, funerals, everywhere, every body drinks. 
Men drink, women drink, and children drink. A 
sideboard, with well-filled decanters and plenty 
of glasses, is considered of almost as much neces- 
sity in housekeeping, as is a table, bed, or chairs. 
Respectable ladies drink to an incredible extent. 
I have seen respectable looking women, occupying 
the most expensive seats in the theatre, produce 
from their pockets between the acts, a small 
pocket bottle and glass, and pass them around 
among their companions. It might have been 
water; but "no one drinks water." The hired 
mourners at funerals (mentioned in another 
chapter,) I have seen standing or attempting to 
stand on the door steps, beastly drunk. A table 
with decanters and glasses is frequently placed in 
the entry near the door for their use. 

In the gin palaces, bars are pu£ up always 
for ladies' use. The common girls of the city are 



ladies' bar. 325 

by no means admitted to the ladies' bar ; they 
must stand at the common bar among crowds of 
men. The arrangement of London bars is very 
different from the American mode. On a stout 
shelf supported by columns of iron or wood, and 
going entirely around the room, is placed a num- 
ber of ornamental casks, containing each from 
sixty to two hundred gallons. From these to the 
bar, are pipes placed out of sight, and when a 
liquor is called for, instead of handing down a 
decanter and allowing each customer to help him- 
self, the " tapster," ascertains whether "thre- 
pence, fawpence, or sixpence 'orth," is desired, 
and proceeds to measure it out of the cask 
accordingly. 

At a large establishment, I once enquired the 
number of sales averaged at the ladies' bar. I 
accidentally spoke to the proprietor ; he handed me 
a w r ritten account which he had been keeping for 
his own instruction and amusement. This was 
an account of sales from two casks. From one 
of the casks were drawn only the drinks ; from 
the other, all liquor that was to be carried away 
from the store by resectable women. From the 
retail cask, or the ladies' drink cask, the small 



326 "recreation!" 

drinks had averaged ior twenty-four days, sixty- 
three gallons — the contents of the cask — every 
four days. From the other cask, in pints and 
quarts, had been drawn on an average for the 
same length of time, thirty gallons a day. This 
was all gin — that being the general drink of the 
" ladies." The casks are filled by means of pumps, 
as soon as emptied from the cellar — each cask 
having a gauge, so that the amount of liquor in 
each is always known. In this state of affairs no 
one can wonder at the following quotation from a 
by-no-means old English paper. M At Dervises, 
in a case of slightly stabbing with a knife, during 
a drunken affray after a fair, Lord Campbell said, 
' a little recreation was quite proper, and perhaps 
a slight elevation was not to be found fault with ; 
but persons should not have recourse to the knife.' 
The prisoner was sentenced to three months im- 
prisonment." This kind of "recreation," and 
" elevation," is very common in London. Fre- 
quently in broad daylight, and sometimes in the 
most fashionable streets in the city, are the mirth 
loving people, entertained with a general street 
fight, among as many as a half dozen women. 
Things in the shape and similitude of men, I hn^a 



THAMES' WATER. 327 

seen standing by, sometimes holding the bonnets 
or shawls of the fair combatants, and encourag- 
ing them with slang terms of endearment learned 
at Billingsgate. The show generally continued 
until the police could collect in a sufficiently-for- 
midable-looking-body, to frighten away the aspi- 
rants to Jem Ward fame. The police system, 
and force of London are probably the best in the 
world, but as such scenes are considered by the 
learned judges as only " little recreations," and the 
result of " slight elevations," the police are not 
particular about interfering, unless in a large 
body. 

Next to gin, the people drink ale and stout. 
The breweries being exceedingly numerous, give 
employment to a large number of men, and ren- 
ders the prices unimaginably low. English ale 
and stout are very fattening, and considered quite 
healthy ; so much so, indeed, that physicians, 
especially in America, recommend invalids to 
drink it. When one knows of what this is made 
he cannot wonder at its fattening qualities. The 
water of the Thames river, is said to be the best 
water in the world. Mariners have said that the 
water taken from immediately around the wharves 



328 BOARDING HOUSES. 

of London, will keep better than any other. This 
has been known to have settled and become bad 
in one month, and afterwards to recover its pu- 
rity, and keep fresh and good for over thirty 
years. All the filth from the streets and houses 
of London, is carried by the sewers into the 
Thames. All the water of the docks, which is 
always more or less poisonous, from the coppered 
vessels, and things thrown into it, empties into 
the Thames. Consequently, the river is the 
dirtiest and filthiest stream imaginable. The best 
ale and stout, as far as the water is concerned, 
are made from the unstrained water of the 
Thames ! 

Boarding-houses are very numerous. These 
exist in every style, and are conducted on every 
system. Very few men, except among the 
wealthy classes, rent an entire house for their own 
family. Every room, except those intended for 
the family is " hired out." " Spare rooms," for 
visitors, form no part of the consideration of a 
house-holder. The arrival of visitors, always 
brings with it, a bustling time of making up beds 
on the floor, or on the parlor sofas. In these 
boarding-houses, one can board himself in his 



PRIVATE BOARDING. 329 

own room, board with the family, or procure his 
meals at the chop-houses. There is in this vari- 
ety, the advantage of trying whichever plan one 
desires. All of them are attended with an indes- 
cribable degree of misery. I had the good 
fortune, through the introduction of a friend, to 
take up my residence in a very good looking 
house, in a pleasant street, and among a family 
of a quiet, strict Church of England folks. The 
house w r as very well furnished. The table was 
as well provided for as could be expected. Every 
thing went along fine for a few weeks. I became 
intimately acquainted with the family. This was 
my first attempt at boarding in a foreign land, or 
I would have known that getting acquainted with 
the family was the worst thing I could have done. 
Boarders in a city, should only know one member 
of the family from another ; should desire to 
know nothing more; pay their bills regularly, 
and let the family know nothing of them except 
their names ; allowing the family the privilege of 
thinking whatever it pleases. Anything beyond 
this is productive of evil. I know this is a very 
difficult course for boarders to pursue, especially 
young gentleman boarders. Should there be one 



330 FAMILIARITIES. 

or two good-looking feminine members in the 
family, such calculations are annihilated. The 
greatest portion of mankind, or rather of woman- 
kind, finds out some how or other more of a 
boarder's business, than the boarder himself 
knows. 

After the first week or two, I was fully con- 
sidered a member of the family ; and as a mem- 
ber of the family of course, I could put up with 
little things a stranger could not. So thought 
the family, so thought not I. The fare continued 
good ; but at first, as is always the case, irregu- 
larities in my room, introduced themselves. Hav- 
ing introduced themselves, they became very 
familiar. Three mornings in seven, I would finish 
w r ashing and then discover no towels in the room. 
Combs, brushes, handkerchiefs, w r ould myste- 
riously disappear. The very book that I hap- 
pened to be reading would " follow suit," and 
when enquired for, found sometimes that " it was 
so interesting, Mr. and Mrs., or Miss next door 
had borrowed it." This coolness made the matter 
considerably worse. Now, these in themselves 
are comparatively small things ; but a mountain 
is composed of grains of sand. You, that 



FELLOW BOARDERS. 331 

never boarded, try the experiment for three or 
six months. I endured this misery for some time, 
and until patience ceased to be a virtue, and then 
resolved on changing quarters. A resolution I 
speedily executed. 

Number two was considerably better, but 
here, a new difficulty arose. My peace of mind 
was almost destroyed by a lovely woman ; or 
rather by the lovely woman's husband. She was 
one of the finest looking, best educated, and 
gentlest of women I ever met. But her husband 
was a sour, churlish old man. He would com- 
mence grumbling before breakfast, and keep it 
up until bed time, everywhere, about everything, 
and before everybody. His wife received about 
nine-tenths of the stock. I am certain she looked 
two shades paler every day. As " self-preserva- 
tion is the first law of. nature," she should have 
cut his throat. 

There was another pair in the house j ust the 
reverse. The male portion was a weak, pusilani- 
mous man ; and the female portion, a strong 
bodied, strong minded woman. The woman was 
evidently the " better man." At least, everybody 
said so, and with considerable truth. 



332 REFLECTIONS. 

There was still a third pair. This consisted 
of two single individuals. The first was, what is 
called a pretty young man ; pretty face, pretty 
features, and about twenty-one years old. The 
second was a love-sick, romantic, and rather good 
looking girl of about eighteen. This pair be- 
longed to an extensive class denominated lovers. 
Kow, love is a very good thing at a proper time, 
and in a proper place. This pair smothered each 
other with sweetness before breakfast, and, like 
the grumbler, kept it up until bed time; and 
often, how much longer, Omniscience only knows. 
As the inmates here, all seemed paired, or going 
to be, I concluded that two, four, six, or eight 
might be company, but in spite of " Rory 
O'Moore," there was no " Luck in odd numbers." 

Number three was in a manner perfect. But 
who that could " go to house-keeping,"' would 
put up with the miseries of that purgatorial state 
of existence called " boarding I? What a degree 
of bliss unimaginable must exist in the mind of 
a man who, possessing a latch-key, can say that 
that unlocks the door of his undivided tenement. 
Where is no bustling landlady and noisy board- 
ers to disturb the peaceful flow of life ; but where 
everything looks, feels, and is comfortable. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BRITISH MUSEUM. — HISTORY AND 
DESCRIPTION.— ROOM OF THE GODS.— THE LI- 
BRARY.— MADAM TUSSAND'S EXHIBITION.— THE 
MADAM AND GENERAL WASHINGTON. — THE 
ROYAL FAMILY. — THE HALL OF KINGS. — THE 
SHRINE OF NAPOLEON, OR THE GOLDEN CHAM- 
BER—CLOTHING AND EQUIPAGE OF NAPOLEON. 
— CHAMBER OF HORRORS. — GUILLOTINE. — 
INTERESTING PREDICAMENT— THE BASTILE. 

The British Museum, the greatest exhibition 
of nature and ancient art in the world, originated 
in 1753, with the will of Sir Hans Sloane, who 
left to the city of London a large collection of 
books, manuscripts, articles of natural history, 
and of ancient art. These remained, and were 
exhibited in a house in Great Russell Street, 
near the present Museum until 1828, when the 
present buildings were completed. The style of 

(333) 



334 BEITISH MUSEUM. 

architecture used, is called Grecian Ionic, but this 
is so mixed with the modern English style, that 
the true style may appropriately be termed an 
original composition. 

The building is of stone, perfectly fire- proof, 
and having walls four feet thick. It consists of 
a broad, deep main building with large wings on 
each side : faced with stone Ionic columns finely 
fluted : having a magnificent portico ; and is 
supposed, like all literary institutions, to bear a 
striking resemblance to the Parthenon. It stands 
in the centre of a large square, having a splendid 
green in front, divided in two parts by a broad 
stone walk, and is surrounded by a low stone wall 
on which is a costly iron railing about ten feet high. 
The front is about four hundred feet long. The 
Ionic columns are forty-five feet high each, and 
five feet in diameter at the base. The height of 
the building from the ground is seventy feet. 
The chief entrance is reached by a flight of stairs 
of stone, one hundred and twenty-five feet broad. 
The portion of the portico between the capital of 
the columns and the roof is enriched with sculp- 
ture in marble representing the " Progress of 
Civilization." This is rather allegorical, and has 



ALLEGORICAL SCULPTURE. 335 

been explained by Sir Richard Westmacott as 
follows. " Commencing at the western angle of the 
pediment, Man is represented emerging from a 
rude savage state through the influence of 
Religion. He is next personified as a hunter and 
a tiller of the earth, and laboring for his subsist- 
ence. Patriarchal simplicity then becomes 
invaded, and the worship of the true God defiled. 
Paganism prevails and becomes diffused by 
means of the arts. The worship of the heavenly 
bodies and their supposed influence led the 
Egyptians, Chaldeans and other nations to study 
astronomy, typified by the centre statues, the 
keystone of the composition. Civilization is now 
presumed to have made considerable progress. 
Descending towards the eastern angle of the 
pediment is mathematics, in allusion to science 
being pursued on known sound principles. The 
Drama, Poetry, and Music balance the group of 
the Fine Arts on the western side, the whole 
composition terminating with natural history, in 
w r hich such objects or specimens only are 
represented as could be made most effective in 
sculpture.'' 

Under the sculpture is the principal entrance 



336 " CURIOSITY SHOPS." 

to the museum. This consists of a large door of 
finely carved oak, hung in a frame of stone about 
twenty-five feet high and ten wide. The entrance 
hall is a magnificent apartment sixty-two feet 
long, fifty broad, and thirty high. The order is 
Grecian Doric. The ceiling is enriched with 
Greek frets and ornaments in many colors, all 
painted in encaustic. All the statues and fres- 
coes are beautifully designed and executed. On 
the east of the Hall, are the MMS. departments. 
On the west are the grand stairs, and a gallery 
which forms the entrance to the " curiosity 
shops." The suite of rooms appropriated to spe- 
cimens of natural history, commences at the top 
of the staircase. This collection is contained in 
three galleries. In cases around the walls of the 
galleries are the specimens of beasts, birds, fish, 
and reptiles ; while the shells, corals, eggs and 
insects are classified in table cases along the mid- 
dle of the galleries. Among the specimens are 
several of each sex of every kind of animal, bird, 
fish, and insect ever heard of, seen or imagined 
from mice to the leviathan, from humming birds 
to ostriches, from sprats to whales, and from 
wortleberry jiggers, and invisible fleas to South 



ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY. 337 

American centipedes. Making altogether a 
collection of several millions. Along the walls of 
the eastern gallery are arranged one hundred 
and twenty portraits. Many of them are old 
and grotesque, but nevertheless very interesting. 
They are mostly the portraits of England's 
Kings, Queens, Lords and Ladies, from the 
earliest times to the present, including some which 
must have been painted centuries after the 
original's death. More fanciful and ridiculous 
pictures could not have been imagined. Some 
of them bear date 1300. Leaving these galleries I 
entered what is termed the Northern Zoological 
Gallery. The wall cases here contain the nests of all 
kinds of birds and insects, exhibiting the different 
stages of construction. The table cases contain 
plaster casts of the interior of shells ; also speci- 
mens of diseased and deformed shell fish. In 
the second room the wall cases contain reptiles 
and the table cases sea eggs, sea stars, and 
encrinites. The second room owing to the great 
variety of the species it contains is the largest of 
the department of natural history. Throughout 
the entire collection every species has it separate 
room. The third room is entirely devoted to 

29 



338 BRITISH VARIETIES, 

the British collection, consisting of flies, mice, 
rats, cats, dogs, squirrels, horses, cows, sheep, hogs, 
and everything else animated, found in Great 
Britain, including a few snakes from Ireland, 
brought hither before the entire race was perpetu- 
ally banished by the good St. Patrick. The fourth 
and fifth rooms contain whales, sharks, other 
large " sea birds " and sponges. The collection 
rooms throughout the entire suite are not 
remarkable for beauty of design or workmanship ; 
presenting but little beyond plain pine floors 
white walls, and ceilings without ornaments. 

In the north wing of the building, there are 
six large rooms devoted to minerals. There are 
in this collection many meteorites, which fell from 
nobody knows exactly where, some weighing- 
three hundred, and some four hundred pounds. 
The United States is well represented in the 
mineral department, there being specimens from 
nearly every State in the Union. The ground 
floor of the building is devoted to the depart- 
ment of antiquities. The different rooms of this 
department are built in the order of architecture 
prevailing in the country whence their contents 
were brought. They consist of Greek, Roman 



HALL OF THE GODS. 339 

Egyptian, Chinese, and other styles, all of which 
have been minutely mentioned in the " Courts 
of the Crystal Palace." The contents consist of 
specimens of ancient temples, temple furniture 
and statuary. One of these rooms, next to the 
Libraries, claims the greatest share of public at- 
tention. This is the room devoted entirely to the 
gods and goddesses of mythological creation. 
The affected modesty of the American public 
would rule this room into a state of annihilation. 
European modesty, on the contrary being real, 
the European ladies can look at a statue or paint- 
ing of a man or woman, although perfectly nude, 
and entertain no feeling of disgust for the inno- 
cent object. They will also converse with gentle- 
men concerning the object, its representation, its 
author, and its merits, in a free, rational, and 
perfectly modest manner. And this unaffected 
modesty they carry with them into every position 
in life. If a lady is engaged in needlework, for 
instance, and is asked even by a gentleman 
whom she had never before met, on what 
she is intent, if she is making or embroidering a 
petticoat or chemise, she says so. There is no 
blushing, and stammering, and calling "things" 



340 FALSE MODESTY. 

by singular names, in the case. I am alluding 
to ladies in every sense of the word. Of course, 
there are extremes. The ladies of the Courts of 
many of England's Kings and Queens drank, 
smoked, gambled, and swore, equal to any male 
courtier. This is one extreme. The ladies of 
America, blush at the mere mention of any arti- 
cle of female apparel ; would not be seen at an 
exhibition of the finest works of art in the world, 
because the objects are not draped : and prefer 
wearing into rottenness and rags a costly silk 
dress and fine petticoats, rather than expose a few 
inches of ankle while wading through city mud 
and dust several inches deep. This is the other 
extreme. A genuine English lady of the present 
day, is a fine example of a proper medium. 
Probably one great reason of this difference is, 
that the American ladies are considered to possess 
better education and more manufactured accom- 
plishments than do the English ladies, and as 
their education and accomplishments increase, so 
do their ideas of refinement. If this is so, for the 
sake of all that is pleasant in society, let us have 
a little less education, fewer accomplishments and 
a great deal more reality. 



THE LIBRARY. 341 

In this apartment, from which I have strayed, 
the collection embraces all the gods and goddesses 
of which there is any record, and in every char- 
acter ascribed to them. Passing by many saloons 
containing bassi relievi, models, portions of the 
mausoleum, and the remains of ancient temples, 
excavated and sent hither by A. H. Layard Esq., 
from Kouyunjik, JNTinevah, and Nimroud, all of 
which are mentioned in a preceding chapter, I 
arrived at the Library. The entrance to the 
Library is through a large doorway, having a 
pair of massive oak doors. These, not being 
opened to the public, are the very doors, the pub- 
lic think that ought to be opened. In the first 
place, it is difficult to procure a ticket of admis- 
sion. This is the labor of weeks and sometimes 
of months. Having eventually procured a ticket, 
the second difficulty to be encountered is, to get 
the doors opened. After tearing the skin off of 
one's knuckles, and kicking the toes or heels off 
one's boots, the sooner the attempt is made to 
kick a panel through the better. The last species 
of knocking will result finally in admission. 
Having personally experienced all the pleasure 
there is in such a course, I can safely say that the 

29* 



342 CURIOSITIES. 

view presented when one enters, is not by any 
means sufficiently fine to repay the preceding 
trouble. It is true, there are a great many inter- 
esting things to be seen and heard here. Here 
are buried the manuscripts of all ages ; here are 
copies of every book, pamphlet, paper and tract 
published in Great Britain ; and here are the 
" Headquarters of the British Standing Army 
of civilization, " as some writer terms books. 
Books from all other countries are also here in 
abundance. All British authors are members of 
the Library Company. Consequently, writers, 
however poor, at all times have an excellent 
library at their disposal. At these writers, I 
spent some time in looking. One hurriedly 
thumps, pushes, and kicks simultaneously at the 
door, and as the applicant evidently understands 
the modus, the door is opened immediately. In 
he rushes — convulsively seizes a large volume 
from an ancient looking pile — finds the place he 
wanted — runs to a table — makes an extract — 
violently closes the book, leaving it for the porter 
to put away — and off he goes. Number two 
comes humbly — is allowed to knock delicately for 
half an hour — is then admitted because somebody 



authors. 343 

happens to be going out — very politely asks a 
porter where such a book, manuscript, or paper 
can be found — porter impudently says he doesn't 
know nor care — writer looks for several hours 
around the room, and finally departs disappointed. 
Number three, neither knocks violently or deli- 
cately, but in stentorian voice calls out to interior 
to open the door. Interior says, it is after the 
hours, no one can come in. Number three swears 
he will come in. The door opens suddenly, and 
he does come in. He is a regular roaring, fat, 
and fashionable John Bull. Administers a kick 
to unfortunate interior, for not opening the door, 
and proceeds to tumble down shelf after shelf of 
books in search of one that he imagines ought to 
have been written, although no one has ever been 
able to write on that particular subject. 

The variety and extent of the rooms in the 
British Museum are really surprising. Rooms 
for brass ware ; rooms for the coins of all ages 
and countries ; rooms for the temple and house- 
hold furniture of ancient times ; galleries for 
paintings, statuary and marble remains ; besides 
many other rooms, galleries and saloons, entirely 



344 MADAME TUSSAUD'S. 

fill up a building four hundred feet long, three 
hundred deep, and seventy high. 



Madame Tussaud's. 

After spending a day at the British Museum, 
I do not know of a better evening entertainment 
in the metropolis, than Madam Tussaud's. This 
is an exhibition of wax statues, in addition to 
relics of history, including many articles that be- 
longed to Napoleon Bonaparte, The exhibition 
originated in Paris, in 1772, and was removed to 
London in 1802. The beauty and fine work of 
the building and its decorations in which the ex- 
hibition rooms are situated, contrasts strongly 
with the majority of the public buildings in Lon- 
don. Madam Tussaud, the originator, died only 
a few years ago, and the establishment is now 
managed by several of her sons. My attention 
was first directed to a small room, serving as a 
vestibule to the principal hall. The ceiling was 
of plaster, richly ornamented, the walls covered 
with large mirrors and velvet drapery, and the 



WELLINGTON KOOM. 345 

floor of tessellated marble. To the left of this, 
was an entrance to a beautiful room, appropriated 
to the Duke of Wellington. 

The representation is that of the Duke lying 
in repose, under a S23lendid canopy of purple vel- 
vet and gold cloth, on a tented couch, and covered 
with the mantle of the Order of the Garter. 
Around this, are many of the emblems of the 
Duke, and rewards which he gained by his brav- 
ery. There are several fine paintings in the 
room, the best of which is " Wellington visiting 
the relics of Napoleon." Entering the principal 
hall, the first statue that I saw was that of Gene- 
ral George Washington. He was dressed in 
black velvet knee breeches, very long waistcoat, 
and single breasted dress coat, with straight col- 
lar, silk stockings, buckled shoes, and carried a 
" Gentleman's sword." 

Madam Tussaud, who was a French woman, 
and a great republican, often boasted that she was 
fortunate enough to have seen and conversed with 
General Washington. She had his statue placed 
in the most conspicuous position in the room, and 
there it still stands. 

Along the walls are beautifully arranged 



346 MADAME TUSSAUD'S. 

statues of the good, great, bad and indifferent of 
all countries, including in the motley group, 
Kings, Queens, Statesmen, Poets, and Heroes, 
Paul Pry, Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb, but no 
Barnum. 

In this style of exhibition, there is certainly 
something superior to mere painting, or mere 
sculpture in marble. The effect produced is of 
course more natural. The objects represented 
appear as they do in life ; the same size, the same 
appearance, and the same manner of dressing. 
The collection of statesmen, wants a Henry Clay, 
and a Daniel Webster, to render it complete. 
The centre of the room is occupied by the Royal 
Family, life size, and quite natural, including 
among the rest, the latest edition from the royal 
press. This group presents rather a singular 
view. The older members of the family were 
finished sometime ago. Since they were finished 
the princes and princesses have been added, as 
they arrived on the stage of existence. The re- 
sult is, that the Queen looks as she did years ago, 
at the time she was married, although now sur- 
rounded by a host of juvenile prattlers. The 
statue of the Queen when made, was said to be a 



THE HALL OF KINGS. 347 

perfect representation. The Queen Victoria of 
1857, can be as well represented by a " snow 
man," as by the statue here exhibited. This .is 
so beautiful, it is very likely that no later statue 
of Her Majesty will be added. By her side 
stands Prince Albert, while the family is arranged 
in the most naturally-domestic order imagin- 
able. The group is surrounded by a body of the 
officers of the British Army, of different dates. 
The collection in this room numbers one hundred 
and sixteen life-size figures. 

The hall of Kings, so called from the por- 
traits of the European monarchs which it contains, 
exhibits in its architecture, a fine specimen of 
modern English art. The Hall contains about 
fifty life-size portraits in magnificent frames. In 
my route, the " Shrine of Napoleon," or the 
" Golden Chamber," came next. This I looked 
upon as possessing peculiar interest, for here, 
imitations were thrown aside, and everything 
to be seen was real ; the original material, 
the original work ; everything pertaining to 
the articles original, and in exactly the 
same state as when used by Napoleon. These 
articles were procured by the Tussaud family, 



348 CURIOSITIES. 

assisted by the British Government, from the 
relatives of Napoleon, to whom they belonged. 
Here is the very camp bedstead on which Napo- 
leon was accustomed to repose during seven years 
of his exile at St. Helena, with the mattrass and 
pillow on which he died. On this, a model of 
Napoleon in repose has been placed, covered with 
the cloak he wore at Marengo. In a case, on the 
right of this, is the Coronation Robe of Napoleon, 
and also that of Josephine. There is also a large 
collection of mantel ornaments; small clocks, 
looking glasses, the flags of Elba, statuary and 
portraits, all of which belonged to Napoleon. 
One of the most interesting relics was the table 
of the Marshalls. This is composed of a single 
slab of porcelain, slightly over ten feet in circum- 
ference, resting upon a branching pedestal. The 
second apartment of the Oolden Chamber, con- 
tains the military carriage in which Napoleon 
made the campaign of Russia. This was captured 
on the evening of the battle of Waterloo, and 
sent to the Prince Regent, from whom it was 
purchased by the authority of the British Gov- 
ernment. The carriage is a cumbrous affair, and 
contains many apartments for dressing cases, 



NAPOLEON. 349 

clothing and arms. Altogether, it is a very com- 
fortable moveable dwelling for the cold winters 
of Russia. There was another carriage of Napo- 
leon's, which was used by him while on St. 
Helena. This room contains in small cases, arms, 
clothing, dressing cases, camp equipage, all of 
which he used during his life. 

Who could repress a sign at Napoleon's fate, 
when he looks upon the clothes he wore ; the arms 
with which he often had fought for France; 
the articles which he used in every-day life ; 
the carriages in which he rode ; and the very 
bed and pillow on which was drawn the last 
breath of the mighty tragedian ! Standing be- 
side the coronation robe of Josephine, we medi- 
tate on Napoleon's hours of glory, of happiness, 
and of love, but beside the arms and campaign 
carriages, there arises thoughts of his years of 
sorrow and untold solitude. We think of the 
mighty thrones and brilliant crowns that like 
toys were only trampled in the dust. We find 
monuments of his labors erected in the smallest 
countries in Europe. And see him eventually 
doomed to spend his last days in solitude on the 
ocean-bounded St. Helena. " The splendid works 

30 



350 CURIOSITIES. 

of Napoleon's genius will live when even his fame 
like a phantom, shall be seen through the tele- 
scope of time." 

With very different feelings, I passed hence 
to the Chamber of Horrors. This is, very ap- 
propriately a cool, damp room ; the walls covered 
with darkly painted rough boards, the ceiling of 
tiles painted red, and the floor of heavy planks. 
The room was dimly lighted with gas, the burn- 
ers in imitation of wax candles, and placed in 
irregular niches. Around are wax statues of all 
the notorious murderers, robbers, conspirators 
and highwaymen ever heard of; real human 
skulls, original infernal machines, and all kinds 
of clubs, swords, knives, guns and pistols used by 
different murderers, together with the models of 
the rooms and houses where the murders were 
committed. The most murderous-respectable- 
looking weapon, is the triangular knife and 
lunette of the Guillotine. The very article that 
decapitated Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, 
Louis XVI., and many others, good and bad, of 
French revolutionary times. There is here a 
model of the Guillotine, the same size as the 
original, and in working order. This consists of 



THE GUILLOTINE. 351 

a heavy plank about seven feet long, placed in a 
horizontal position, raised about two and a half 
feet above the floor, and of sufficient breadth to 
allow a man to lie in as comfortable a position as 
one could lie when conscious that the next second 
the descending knife would cut off his head. 
There are on the plank a number of straps by 
which the victim was bound to it. At one ex- 
tremity of the plank are two uprights fifteen feet 
high, leaving between the two a space of one foot. 
Each upright has a smooth metalic groove facing 
the other, and running the full length. Up and 
down these grooves the knife slides, similar tg the 
saw of a saw-mill. Almost under the knife, and 
on a level with the horizontal plank are two 
boards having a semicircle cut in each; one of 
these is stationary, the other moveable, so that 
when closed the two semicircles meet ; and in the 
circle thus formed rests the neck of the prisoner 
to be decapitated. The knife in shape is a right- 
angled triangle. The apex and base being the 
parts that set in the grooves ; the side being the 
back of the knife and the hypothenuse forming 
the edge. To render the descent of the knife 
more rapid and forcible, it is backed heavily with 



352 THRILLING SCENE. 

iron. When a prisoner was to be decapitated, 
the knife was drawn to the top of the uprights, 
he was adjusted properly on the plank, a spring 
was touched, the knife with lightning speed de- 
scended, the inclining edge of the knife sliced off 
the head which fell into a basket, and the body 
rolled off into a long trough prepared for it. Two 
seconds is time sufficient for the entire operation. 
A gentleman was recently placed in a very 
awkward situation by the model guillotine. En- 
tering the Chamber of Horrors, he thought he 
would experience somewhat the feelings of a con- 
demned prisoner, and consequently placed himself 
in proper order on the plank, his head through 
the neck-board, and while looking up at the knife 
he discovered it slowly sliding down. The rope 
being tangled caused the knife to move very 
slowly, but he perceived that the weight of the 
knife was slowly dragging the rope out of the 
loose knot in which it had been tied. The rope 
was used to draw the knife to the top, and con- 
sequently moved with the knife. In adjusting 
himself properly on the plank, he had accidentally 
caught hold of the rope which moved also the 
spring. Of course, as soon as he discovered the 



THE BASTILE. 353 

descending knife he endeavored to rise, but the 
rope had caught in the neck-board so that it could 
not be moved. Utter a very articulate sound he 
could not, owing to the pressure of the board. 
From this unpleasant dilemma he was miracu- 
lously rescued by a person connected with the 
establishment, who fortunately happened to enter 
at that moment. He was not clear of the plank 
when the weight of the knife broke the cord, and 
down it came with a harmless crash. The gen- 
tleman stated that he had given himself up for 
lost, had said all the prayers he could recollect, 
and consoled himself with the idea of " Fol- 
lowing in the footsteps of his illustrious pre- 
decessors," Marie Antoinette and Robespierre. 

Behind the guillotine, is a large model of the 
condemned cell of the Bastile. This occupies the 
same position and proximity to the guillotine as 
did the original. Through the grated door can 
be seen a wax representation of one of the con- 
demned. This, by clock work is made moveable. 
He is pouring over a book of masses, counting 
his beads, and occasionally stealing a glance at 
an hour glass of which the sand has almost run 
out. On the table on which he leans is a dish of 

30* 



354 MADAME TUSSAUD. 

food by him untouched, but upon which two mice 
are voraciously feeding, unheeded by the prisoner, 
who is intent only on the book and beads. The 
attitude, countenance, and dress of the poor fel- 
low show perfectly what humanity is in misery. 
There are several other models in the room of 
the Bastile externally and internally. 

At Madam Tussaud's, the ear as well as the 
eye is gratified. One of the best bands in Lon- 
don performs every evening, so that viewed as an 
exhibition of amusement and instruction for every 
person of every class, age, or sex, there is no 
better evening entertainment afforded by any 
exhibition in the metropolis. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A HETEROGENOUS MASS. 

RAILROAD TRAVELLING.— CITY FUNERALS. 
— THE BAXK OF ENGLAND. — THE ROYAL EX- 
CHANGE. — PETTICOAT LANE. — TRAFALGAR 
SQUARE. — THE TEMPLE. 

RAILROAD TRAVELLING. 
If speed is the motto of all American rail- 
roads, safety is that of all English railroads. 
Seldom does an accident of any kind occur on 
them, and still more seldom, are more than one 
or two persons killed. Should three persons lose 
their lives, the whole country would be thrown 
into a state of perfect excitement. Englishmen 
also, always show a great deal of feeling for 
Americans, when they hear of an accident on any 
American road. Many "terrible railroad acci- 

(355) 



356 EAILEOADS. 

dents in America," are manufactured in the Lon- 
don papers, and thence spread over Great Britain. 
The difference between the two countries in re- 
spect to railroads is as great as it is in every 
other, but this time decidedly in England's favor. 
Throughout the country, no public or private 
road can cross a track. The carriage or foot-path 
must be either built above the track or tunnelled 
under. A track passing through a small town 
or village is walled up on each side, having gates 
placed at convenient distances, and a resident 
watchman at each gate. In passing through a 
city, the track must be laid upon heavy stone or 
brick arches twenty-five feet high; each arch 
built exactly over the street, so that no thorough- 
fare will be obstructed. From London these tiers 
of arches branch out in all directions. Riding in 
a car, one is level with the upper windows of the 
houses in the city, and up among chimnies and 
coal smoke in the suburbs. All the roads are 
finished with double tracks, thus collisions of 
opposite trains are avoided. At every station the 
track is above the ticket office. Persons must 
procure tickets in advance ; a man is stationed at 
every door leading from the ticket office, he ex- 



TRAVELLING. 357 

amines the ticket, its color and date, if all right, 
he punches a hole in it. The ticket holder then 
ascends to the cars and takes a seat. Instead of 
finding himself in a car with seats arranged up 
and down a long aisle, among several hundred 
persons, a comfortable stove if it should be winter, 
and a finely-furnished apartment altogether, he 
finds himself only in a large carriage made to 
hold six persons, three of which carriages being 
built together on a platform constitutes the car, 
the doors all open on the sides, often, not a single 
person to be seen, but remarkably comfortable 
with all. The pleasure of travelling is greatly 
enhanced by seeing a few human beings engaged 
in the same pursuit, and consequently in this par- 
ticular the American fashion is much the best. 
One or two hundred persons who had never met 
before and probably never would again, all talk- 
ing, laughing, and joking together, make a long 
journey seem short. Of course, this would be 
contrary to John Bull's notions of propriety ; and 
sooner than sacrifice a little opinion, he would 
ride alone a thousand miles, staring at vacancy, 
or half asleep. 

Having arrived at a desired station, as the 



358 CONDUCTORS. 

traveller gets out a conductor is visible for the 
first time. An English conductor or guard at- 
tends only to the starting and stopping of the 
trains and the baggage. Tickets are given up as 
the traveller goes down the stairs from the 
station. 

The locomotives are coal-burning entirely. 
From each station there are telegraph wires con- 
necting each other station, and the general office. 
The semiphore system so generally used in Great 
Britain, is an exceedingly simple yet useful ope- 
ration. It consists of posts placed five hundred 
yards from each station. At the top of the post 
are red, white, and green arms. When one train 
is at a station, the red arm signifying danger, is 
raised by means of a stout wire running along 
the ground from the station. The guard of any 
following train, seeing the red arm stops at once. 
For five minutes after a train departs, the green 
arm signifying caution, is raised half-way up. 
When the track is clear, nothing but the white 
arm is seen. At night, red, green, and white 
glass slides are raised before a bright light. In 
very foggy weather when the semiphore signals 
are not visible, percussion signals are used. These 



FUNERALS. 359 

are placed on the track, so that the first wheel of 
the engine sets them off, and the engineer pro- 
ceeds according to the signal. With these rules 
fully carried out, railroad accidents in England 
are almost unheard of. 



London Funerals. 

Of all cold, formal, uncharitable, and un- 
christian-like sights to be seen in London, a 
funeral is certainly the greatest, combining as it 
does all of these characters, in addition to several 
others for which no expressive name can be 
found. 

Among the aristocracy when a person dies, 
unless he is some great general or other public 
character, no one attends the funeral except the 
immediate family of the deceased. Friends of 
the family send only their empty carriages. I 
have frequently seen a magnificent hearse, attended 
by many hired mourners and one carriage con- 
taining the immediate family of the deceased 
following the hearse, then a long train of empty 



360 MOURNERS. 

carriages of all kinds and descriptions. Among 
the lower classes funerals consist of a hearse and 
one carriage, but always attended by hired 
mourners. These mourners are composed of the 
very lowest of the low ; they are generally as 
drinking, gambling, and murderous a set of men, 
or devils, as ever abode within the walls of a 
jail. They dress in black with a long alpacca 
gown trimmed with velvet thrown around them. 
From their hats to their feet flow two long ends 
of a bow of white Irish linen. Their duty 
consists in standing at the door of the dwelling 
wherein lies the deceased, for some hours before 
the time of the funeral ; in drinking all the 
liquor they can in the meantime, and in walking 
beside the hearse at the funeral. Each one of 
them carries in his hand a staff over the top of 
which is folded a piece of linen similar to that 
worn on the hat. Their chief duty is to mourn 
the fate of the departed. 

Every undertaker thinks it incumbent on 
himself to outdo every other undertaker in 
ridiculing the dead. The shops exhibit from the 
ground to the roof all kinds, sizes, and shapes of 
coffins; beautiful epitaphs for the tomb of the 



MOCKERIES. 363 

dead; neat positions for " laying out;" and 
pictures of funerals underwritten thus : — " fu- 
nerals got up in this style for £10.," or plainer 
funerals, for less money. 

In every manner possible or imaginable, are 
the dead made a mockery and a mere mercenary 
affair. It is easy enough to talk of a person's 
being insensible to everything done to his body 
when his pulse shall have ceased forever to beat, 
but I am led to doubt very much whether the best 
christian of modern days would die in London as 
easy as he would out of it. Custom is a great deal, 
and Londoners must have got accustomed to 
this manner of treating their dead. 

If this, however, is the manner in which 
London funerals are conducted, it is not so with 
funerals in the country. In a small village many 
miles from the noise and dust of the city, I at- 
tended once a funeral. It was in the summer. 
The departed was quite young, and well known 
in the town. I was told by an acquaintance of 

the person that during L 's sickness the 

entire village seemed like a sick room. Everything 
was still and solemn. All amusements were 
suspended, and special prayer meetings were 



364 COUNTKY FUNEKALS. 

held in private houses. Every one was interested, 
and every one did all possible to add a mite to 

L — *'s comfort and pleasure. But L 

grew rapidly worse and at last, surrounded by 
many friends, died. I entered the village the day 
of the funeral and seeing the places of business 
and the houses closed, and people in their best 
walking about, I concluded that either they or I 
had mistaken the day. I ascertained the cause at 
the inn and resolved to attend the funeral at five 
o'clock as appointed. Every one in and around 
the village that could attend was there, and 
the church yard was crowded. No hearse carried 
the body to the grave yard, but it was borne by 
friends. Mourners were there in crowds, but 
they were not hired. The evening was the finest 
I ever saw in England, and as the voice of all 
that could joined in a hymn, and filled the air 
with solemn melody, I contrasted the scene with 
a London funeral. This was the first death that 
had occurred in the village for years. Every one 
knew of it. The bell tolled, and its solemn echo 
rang along the valley and over the hill ; the de- 
parted has left a vacant place which will 
not be filled. In the morning L , will 



GRAVEYARDS. 365 

be missed in the accustomed walks ; at noon will 
not be seen, nor at night ; — yet will be remembered. 
In London one dies and is buried. His com- 
panions hear of it, say, " Poor fellow," and go to 
a ball or the theatre. 

How much it is to be regretted that in our 
American cities, funerals are becoming daily more 
formal. 

It is said that at the present time in London, 
it is more difficult to find room for the dead than 
it is for the living. The city graveyards have 
been dug out over and over again. They now 
build vast catacombs near the city, and to these 
hundreds are daily carried. " The number of the 
dead long exceedeth all that shall live. The 
night of time far surpasseth the day, and who 
knows when was the equinox ? Every hour adds 
unto that current arithmetic which scarce stands 
one moment." 



31 



366 BANK OF ENGLAND. 

The Bank of England. 

The first National Bank in England, was 
incorporated by an act of Parliament in 1694. 
At its inception it was properly characterized as 
a "Whig Institution" — and the strong tories 
loved to keep up the odious distinction for a hun- 
dred years — at present it cannot be designated 
as belonging to any political party — it is literally 
the financial sun of the commercial world. 

The style of architecture of the present 
buildings is of no particular order ; for having 
been erected at different periods, by persons of 
different tastes, no one of the architects saw 
proper to consult with his predecessor. The 
Corinthian slightly predominates. The buildings 
cover an area of eight acres. The exterior ap- 
pears an ornamented high wall, with but one 
entrance, and not a single window. Within the 
walls, there are nine large open courts upon which 
the windows all open. No American or other 
foreigner is admitted to view the Bank without 
an order from the American or other resident 
minister. Having complied with the law, I en- 
tered, and having shown my ticket was placed in 



BOOK ROOM. 367 

the hands of a guide, who immediately com- 
menced business by informing me who he was, 
where he was born, how long he had been in the 
bank, when he expected to leave, and many other 
things equally important. Accompanied by this 
loquacious specimen, I visited first the book-room. 
Here, every size and kind of book used in the 
establishment, and by the depositors is made. A 
large number of persons mostly girls, were em- 
ployed in binding and assorting. In the printing 
office, all the notes are printed. The paper used 
is made expressly for the bank, and consists of 
small oblongs about seven inches long and four 
broad. In each, is manufactured the water mark 
which in a five pound note is the word " Five," 
in a ten pound note H Ten," no note being issued 
of less denomination than five pounds. After the 
note is printed, it is taken into a private room 
where the date and president or governor's sig- 
nature are affixed, also by press. The day that 
a bill is issued, its date and number are written 
upon # a large card, so that when a note is pre- 
sented, if it does not correspond as far as date 
and number are concerned, something is imme- 
diately known to be wrong. No bill is issued the 



368 BURNING NOTES. 

second time. When a bill returns to the bank, 
it is placed in a drawer where it remains a cer- 
tain length of time ; the signature is then torn 
off; the note is sent into the vaults where it is 
safely deposited in a case with all notes bearing 
the same date, and at the expiration of ten years 
it is burned. While I was in the vaults, they 
were preparing for an extensive conflagration. 
Bills that were once worth millions, were piled 
up to the very ceilings, now good for nothing. 

One object in this course is, that if a bill is 
out of bank an unaccountably long time (one 
year is considered a long time) and is then pre- 
sented at the counter, it is compared with the 
bills in the case of that date in the vaults. To 
avoid counterfeits, another precaution is taken by 
the merchants. No merchant receives from 
another a bill unless it bears on the back the sig- 
nature of the person from whom he receives it ; 
and at the bank no bill will be cashed unless it 
bears the signature of some responsible person 
or unless the one presenting the bill i§ well 
known. 

As a result of all these precautions, gold, 



coins. 369 

silver, and copper form the general currency of 
the country* 

In addition to the book and printing rooms, 
there are many public and private offices, libra- 
ries, an armory, governor's residence, and porter's 
lodges within the walls. Viewed as a whole, it 
seems like a small town. The direction of its 
affairs is vested in a Governor, Deputy Governor, 
and twenty-four directors, thirteen of whom with 
the Governor constitute a quorum. The clerks 
employed number twelve hundred, in addition to 
guides, messengers, and porters. 

In the City of London there are about one 
hundred banking institutions. The majority 
being private concerns. 

The gold coins of England consist of sov- 
ereigns and half sovereigns. The guinea has 
passed away. A sovereign — or one pound — is 
about the size of the American five dollar coin — is 
somewhat thinner, and its American value is about 
four dollars and eighty cents. There are six silver 
coins. The crown — a coin about the size of a sil- 
ver dollar — is in English money worth five 
shillings, or one dollar and twenty cents. Then 
there are half-crowns, shilling, sixpence, four- 



370 KOYAL EXCHANGE. 

pence, and threpence pieces. The penny is a 
cumbrous copper coin — as large as an American 
silver dollar — and weighs one ounce. The other 
copper coins consist only of half-pence and farth- 
ings. 



The Royal Exchange. 

South-east from the Bank of England stands 
one of the finest public buildings in London— 
the Royal Exchange. The original establishment 
was founded during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
and opened in 1567. She called the building, the 
" Royal Exchange," and though several times 
destroyed and rebuilt — it is still known through- 
out the world by that name. 

The present building was opened in 1844. 
It is a Grecian edifice, of granite and built upon 
the four sides of a square, leaving in the centre a 
magnificent open court, paved with valuable stone 
from Turkey. Around the court is a fine broad 
terrace connected by archways with the court, 
and by heavy iron gates with the streets. This 



" LLOYD'S LIST." 371 

terrace is greatly resorted to during the day as 
affording a line promenade. Comfortable seats 
line the sides, the ceiling is beautifully decorated, 
and many statues ornament the walls. In the 
centre of the court stands a colossal statue of 
Britannia. The lower rooms of the building are 
occupied entirely as stores, while all the merchant 
business is carried on in large and appropriate 
rooms above. From one of these rooms issues 
daily a little paper which is well known in all 
parts of the world, " Lloyd's List." The paper 
is devoted entirely to shipping. Every ship that 
arrives in and sails from Great Britain is accu- 
rately noticed. Every accident or unusual event 
occurring to ships throughout the world, that is 
heard of at all, is here fully described. West of 
the Exchange there is another monument, erected 
to the memory of the Duke of Wellington. This 
is an equestrian statue of the Duke, cast from the 
guns taken at Waterloo. The pedestal is of 
granite. The cost of the monument was about 
forty-five thousand dollars. Fortunes seem to have 
been expended by the government to keep before 
the people the mementoes of the " Iron Duke." 



372 LOW LIFE. 



Petticoat Lane. 



The picture of low-life presented by Petticoat 
Lane, or, as it is often called, the Houndsditch 
Exchange is unsurpassed by any in London. 
This is the grand rendezvous of Jews. Here assem- 
ble lame, blind, sick, sore, and well Jews. French 
Jews, German Jews, Irish Jews, Dutch Jews, 
English Jews, Scotch Jews, American Jews, 
African Jews, Jew Jews from Jewry or Jerusalem, 
and every other kind of Jews. They meet here 
to buy, sell and steal. They buy hareskins, 
bones, rags, broken glass, bottles, books, furniture, 
jewelry and even houses and lands. They sell 
everything they buy, and sometimes a great deal 
more. They steal everything they can get their 
hands on. In addition to these wandering Jews 
there are permanent stalls for the mending of 
umbrellas, for the sale of old clothes, boots, and bon- 
nets, and for the temporary hiding of stolen goods. 
The greatest degree of bustle and anxiety is 
always manifested on Sunday morning before 
eleven o'clock, from which time until one, accord- 
ing to law, every store and species of business in 



PETTICOAT LANE. 373 

London must be suspended. One Sunday morn- 
ing having received all necessary warnings and 
advice concerning the motley assemblage, I stow- 
ed away gloves, papers, and handkerchief into 
inside pockets ; buttoned my coat up to the neck, 
and proceeded to reconnoitre the premises. The 
" lane " properly is only one short alley, but the 
business extends through four or five small streets, 
meeting each other at different angles. Imme- 
diately I entered the lane I was surrounded by 
Jews of all countries and saluted in a half dozen 
different languages. Some wanted to buy the 
clothes I had on, others desired me to see if I 
had any clothes at home to dispose of, others 
wanted me to purchase pictures, books and every 
imaginable article, and it was not until I had 
several times walked through the entire establish- 
ment and demonstrated by my irreproachable 
conduct that I was not a Jew, and did not intend 
to break the fourth commandment, that I was left 
in peace. Finally I found a seat commanding an 
extensive view of the exchange. From this spot 
I could see without being seen, all that was going 
on in different portions of the lane. In one spot 
among an immense pile of crockery-ware was 

32 



374 SQUALID WftfcfeftfJiX&ESS. 

a being dressed in such a manner that it tvag 
extremely difficult to tell to what sex it belonged. 
Long boots, a man's hat, a man's coat with skirts 
torn off, and short skirts that looked like woman's 
apparel. The features were masculine but from 
the skirts of calico, and voice, I eventully concluded 
it was a woman. Satisfied with this conclusion 
I watched the noisy crowd around her. Some of 
the crowd desired to purchase, while the majority 
were very anxious to call her attention to some 
damaged piece of crockery which they had for 
sale. In another spot was a wandering boot 
maker or mender. He carried his bench with 
him, and every one that employed him sat down 
on one end of the bench, took off his boots or shoes, 
and waited until the heeler and mender of soles* 
had acomplished his task. 

Although there are many evils resulting from 
a place like Petticoat Lane, yet there is one thing 
about it of great use to a large class of persons. 
The poorer class of persons can here purchase 
good clothing, good furniture, and good books, for 
a mere nothing. These things in many cases have 
been but little used, they are often bought by the 
Jews for trifling sums, and still oftener stolen. 



JEWISH PRACTICES. 375 

There is one department devoted to silk goods, 
always made up. Here I saw many costly and 
beautiful silk dresses sold for an incredibly small 
sum. These had evidently, if worn at all, been 
worn only on one or two occasions. The " ladies " 
that live on the smiles of the public are good 
customers here. The venders of the silk goods 
consist generally of the best looking Jewesses, 
and I could not resist the temptation of indulging 
in a little harmless conversation with the dark- 
skinned, black-eyed Hebrew maidens. 

The business carried on in the exchange is 
one of the most profitable in London ; and many 
rich fashionable Jews, residing in pomp in the 
finest part of London, resort to the lane, and in dis- 
guise sell and buy old clothes, bones and rags. 



Trafalgar Square. 

One of the finest ornamental spots in London 
is Trafalgar Square. This is not an enclosed piece 
of ground with trees and flowers growing in it, 
and gravel walks, as Americans understand the 



376 TRAFALGAR SQUARE. 

word " square," but is paved entirely with tessel- 
lated marble, has raised terraces for promenading, 
splendid fountains always playing, and great 
numbers of costly statues and monuments. On 
one side of the square is a fine building of stone 
used as the National Gallery of Paintings. The 
collection embraces the finest works of the best 
painters, for several centuries past. These are 
contained in a number of large galleries comfort- 
ably furnished and well lighted. The collection 
is daily increased by the paintings sent to it from 
gentlemen employed in travelling over Europe to 
procure all the finest ancient and modern works. 
The present collection is valued at about six- 
hundred thousand dollars. It would be impossible 
to describe the many paintings exhibited here ; 
those representing scenes in the life of Christ, 
scenes from the plays of Shakspeare, and certain 
historical pictures are decidedly the best. Among 
the latter the " Abduction of Sabine Women" 
ranks highest. 

The Church of St. Martin's in the Fields with 
its celebrated colonnade, faces the square. In 
front of the church is a fine equestrian statue of 
George IV. Not far from this is a similar statue 



STATUES. 377 

of George III. In the middle of the south front 
stands a beautiful column, considerably over a 
hundred feet high, erected to the memory of 
Nelson. The column is surmounted by a colossal 
statue of Nelson, and the pedestal is ornamented 
with bronze bas reliefs. Facing the column is 
another equestrian statue. This is of Charles I., 
in bronze. From this monument the Heralds of 
the court proclaim the accession of a new 
sovereign. 

Trafalgar Square is the second centre of 
Lndon, the city being elliptical, and the Mansion 
House, the first centre. Consequently the neigh- 
borhood is a scene of life, noise and confusion, in 
this respect but little dissimilar to every part of 
the great metropolis. 



32 ' 



378 LAWYEBS. 



The Temple. 

The Temple consists of a large number of 
buildings, courts, and gardens, devoted entirely 
to the use of lawyers and law students. Here 
they can eat, drink, sleep, study and practice 
Without leaving the building in which their apart- 
ments are situated. The establishment is divided 
into the Inner and Middle Temples. Each oc- 
cupied and regulated by a different society. The 
gardens overlook the Thames. They are beau- 
tifully laid out and always in perfect order. They 
are surrounded by the dwellings of the barristers. 
In one of these dwellings, formerly resided 
Oliver Goldsmith. In addition to the dwellings 
are two large halls, two libraries, and a magnifi- 
cent church. The " Church," is very ancient, 
having been founded by the Knights' Templars. 
It is built on the model of the Church of the 
Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This is said to be the 
best specimen of fine Gothic architecture in exist- 
ence, although very small. Service is regularly 
performed here, the pews being engaged entirely 



THE CHURCH. 379 

by lawyers and their families, and the public ad- 
mitted only by tickets, signed by a member of the 
Temple. The service is that of the Church of 
England, but owing to the amount of ceremony 
everywhere introduced, this fact would hardly be 
detected. The officiating clergyman chaunts all 
the prayers, the choir chaunting the Aniens. The 
responses are all chaunted, as is also the creed, 
and even the sermon is preached in a kind of 
sing-song manner, resembling somewhat a school- 
boy reading poetry. 

The wood- work of the church is of oak finely 
carved, and constructed in the Gothic style. The 
windows are filled with costly stained glass. The 
floor is of finely inlaid marbles and brass. The 
ceiling is of stone, so constructed that one stone 
removed, the whole ceiling and roof falls. The 
borders of the ceiling and roof are supported by 
tier upoii tier of Gothic rounded and pointed 
arches. The sculptures, although executed many 
years ago, are as fresh looking as if done but 
yesterday, and the whole arrangement of desks, 
pulpits, communion tables, and font is as con- 
venient as possibly could be. This is the very 



380 OLD AECHITECTURE. 

oldest building of any kind in the metropolis — 
and this fact alone renders it a matter of deep 
interest. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

HAMPTON COURT PALACE. — HISTORY AND 
DESCRIPTION. — ROYAL RELICS. — THE CAR- 
TOONS OF RAPHAEL— WOLSEY'S HALL. — THE 
PALACE GARDENS. — CARDINAL WOLSEY.— IITS 
PRIVATE LIFE.— HIS DESERTION AND DEATH. 

-" Close by those meads, forever crowned with flowers, 
Where Thames with pride surveys his rising towers, 
There stands a structure of majestic frame, 
Which from the neighboring Hampton takes its name. 
Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom, 
Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home. 
Here thou, great Anna ! whom three realms obey, 
Dost sometimes counsel take— and sometimes tea." 



As far back as the days of the Doomsday 
Boole^ can be traced Hampton Manor. After be- 
ing mentioned in that book, it passed through 
several hands until Cardinal Wolsey, at the sum- 
mit of his power, desirous of building the most 
regal residence in Europe, and at the same time 

381 



382 HAMPTON COURT. 

wishing to enjoy a long life of health, by the ad- 
vice of learned doctors of Padua, purchased the 
manor. This step taken, one after another, rose 
the towers and walls of Hampton Court Palace. 
It at present consists of three large courts. The 
Western Court is one hundred and sixty-seven 
feet long, and one hundred and sixty- two feet 
wide. This is divided into several apartments, 
and is private, owing to several families having 
their residences in it. The Clock Court is per- 
fectly square, being one hundred and thirty-four 
feet each way. The buildings are entirely of 
brick, having marble window-sills and door- 
frames. They form three sides of a square ; the 
interior having several open courts, and the 
fourth side enclosed by a high wall. In this wall 
is a splendid gateway leading to the interior de- 
partments. Over the gates are the arms and 
private motto of Cardinal Wolsey. The towers 
on each side of the gateway are ornamented with 
terra cotta busts of Roman Emperors: on the 
east tower are Titus, Otho, Gralba, and Julius : 
on the west Vitellius and Augustus. Within the 
gateway are busts of Trajan and Adrian. At a 



STAIRCASE. 383 

Small gate are Tiberius and Nero, which were 
sent from Rome by Pope Leo X., to the Cardinal, 
1 entered the Palace through the South gate, 
passing through a magnificent colonnade of Ionic 
columns, into a small hall from which ascended 
the " King's grand stairs." The staircase was 
painted by Verrio. All the representations are 
in the brightest colors, and the positions given of 
the various objects are exceedingly graceful. On 
one side are the Muses, who, assisted by Apollo, 
are engaged in a musical festival. Under them 
is Pan playing upon reeds, and under Pan is 
Ceres carrying a wheat-sheaf, and pointing to 
several loaves of bread. Near Ceres are Thame, 
Isis, Pomona, and Flora, at a table covered with 
rich plate, fruit, flowers, and wine. The scene 
on the ceiling represents Jupiter and Juno seated 
at a table supported by lions. Ganymede on an 
eagle, handing a cup to Jupiter. In front of the 
table is the peacock of Juno. Near Jupiter is 
one of the Fates in attendance. At another part 
of the table are seated Time and Cybele. The 
corners of the ceiling are filled with flowers. The 
other sides of the staircase are covered with Cu- 
pids, Yenus, Mars, and other deities. From the 



384 STATE APARTMENTS. 

staircase I entered the Guard Chamber. This is 
a splendid room about sixty feet long, about forty 
wide, and thirty high. The walls of the room 
are covered with dark panels, consisting of an 
upper and lower row. The upper row is orna- 
mented with muskets, swords, pistols, daggers, 
and coats of mail, all in perfect order, and ar- 
ranged in many curious ways. There are enongh 
arms in the chamber to equip about twelve hun- 
dred men. The lower panels contain in all twenty 
portraits of naval heroes, a painting of the Colos- 
seum at Rome, and several battles. The ceiling 
is finely decorated with roses and fleur-de-lis. 
Leaving the Guard Chamber, I passed succes- 
sively through the King's Presence Chamber, — 
Second Presence Chamber, — Audience Chamber, 
— King's Drawing Room, — King William III.'s 
Bed Room, — King's Dressing Room, — King's 
Writing Closet, — Queen Mary's Closet, — Her 
Majesty's Gallery, — Queen's Bed Room, — Queen's 
Drawing Room, — Queen's Audience Chamber, — 
Prince of Wales' Bed Room, and about twenty 
other large State apartments, the names of which 
I did not note, as they were all the rooms of dif- 
ferent Kings and Queens at various periods. On 



FINE PAINTINGS. 385 

the walls in these rooms are hung one thousand 
and ninety-three large paintings. An idea of the 
vast extent and magnificence of the original pal- 
ace may be obtained from the fact that Wolsey 
had two hundred and eighty costly silk beds in 
the building for the accommodation of his visitors, 
and exclusive of his own household, which always 
numbered several hundreds. The ceilings in all 
of the rooms are finely painted, representing 
scenes in the history of England, and the alle- 
gories of mythology. None of the furniture of 
Wolsey's establishment is in the Palace. In the 
Audience Chamber, is the canopy of rich damask 
silk embroidered with gold, under which the 
Pope's nuncio was received by James II. In 
King William III.'s Bed Room is the State Bed 
of Queen Charlotte. The bed furniture consists 
of beautiful specimens of needlework, richly 
embroidered ; made by the pupils of an Asylum 
founded by Queen Charlotte, for the orphan 
daughters of clergymen. At the head of the 
bed is an ancient clock, which goes twelve months 
without winding. In the Queen's Bed Room is 
the state bed of Queen Anne. The bed furniture 

and curtains are of worked velvet ; there are also 

33 



386 CARTOONS. 

a number of chairs and stools covered with velvet 
to correspond. In the Queen's Audience Cham- 
ber, is the State Canopy of Queen Mary. This 
is of rich damask silk. The Public Dining 
Room contains the State Canopy prepared for the 
lying-in-state of the Duke of Wellington, at 
Chelsea Hospital in 1852. The Canopy is very 
large, surmounted by black plumes and flags, 
richly decorated with silver, and lined entirely 
with silver tissue. In front of this are the 
Duke's arms and motto, " Virtutis fortuna 
comes" All the hangings are of black vel- 
vet, also lined with silver, and bordered with sil- 
ver fringes and tassels. On each side of the 
canopy are columns formed by binding a number 
of spears in black velvet. On these are shields, 
arms, and mottoes. The funeral car is under the 
canopy. 

A gallery in another part of the Palace con- 
tains the celebrated cartoons of Raphael. These 
have attracted the attention of artists for many 
years. They were designed about 1520 — by 
Raphael, according to orders received from Pope 
Leo X. The scenes are taken from the life of 
Christ, and the apostles. They are called car- 



TAPESTRY. 387 

toons from being finely painted on large sheets of 
paper. Their history has been but little beyond 
a scene of constant changing of places and 
owners. 

The Great Hall is the finest built and largest 
apartment in the Palace. It was designed by 
Cardinal Wolsey, and was finished by Henry 
VIII., after Wolsey's fall from royal favor, and 
when Anne Boleyn reigned monarch of the king's 
heart. The Hall is one hundred and six feet long, 
forty wide and sixty high. The roof of the Hall 
is exceedingly grand, its proportions perfect, and 
its ornaments appropriate. It is said that James I., 
as well as Elizabeth, had a theatre in the Hall, 
and that here Shakspeare's plays were acted for 
the first time. The lower parts of the walls are 
hung with tapestry in eight portions, in each of 
which is a scene in the history of Abraham. 

The first — Grod appearing to Abraham and 
blessing him. 

The second — The birth of Isaac, his circum- 
cision, and the expulsion of Hagar and Ish- 
mael. 

The third — Abraham sending his servant to 
seek a wife for Isaac. 



388 HAMPTON COURT. 

The fourth — The Egyptians sending away 
Abraham and Sarah with gifts. 

The fifth — Abraham giving entertainment to 
three angels. 

The sixth — Abraham purchasing, for a burial 
place, the cave of Machpelah. 

The seventh — Abraham and Lot parting. 

The eighth — Abraham offering up Isaac. 

There are other tapestries at the entrance 
The largest one of which represents the pleading 
of Justice and Mercy. There is a latin inscrip- 
tion under it. " Lewdness or wickedness, before it 
acquires a character from habit, merits the inter- 
ference of justice or mercy. By Justice guilt is 
menaced with punishment, but by mercy it is 
made intercession. When blessed fortitude ap- 
pears in the field, sin always is vanquished. Sin 
is everlastingly punished in torment by the vir- 
tues, and it never dies. Sin was the enemy of the 
first man, it became deadly and unpardonable. 
The seven deadly sins, as they are licentiously 
produced in the world are here allegorically por- 
trayed." 

Between every window are stags' heads 
carved in wood, and to which are joined gen- 



GARDENS. 389 

nine antlers. Above the heads are banners 
having embroidered on them the emblems and 
arms of Wolsey. Over the entrance there is a 
pile of swords, spears, and mail armor. The 
windows of the Hall are of fine stained glass 
containing portraits in full length, arms, mottoes, 
and battle representations. Adjoining the Hall 
is a small " withdrawing room." It is finely decor- 
ated, and in one window is a full length portrait 
of Wolsev. 

The gardens around the Palace cover an 
extent of three miles, splendidly laid out in 
terraces, lakes, ornamental walks, and containing 
many statues, fountains and rural buildings. 

These are the grounds and this the Palace 
purchased, designed, and built by the ambitious 
cardinal, to surpass every regal residence in 
England and be a fit present from him to 
England's king. How striking the story of the 
cardinal's life! How great and numerous its 
vicissitudes ! A child, the son of a poor butcher. 
A youth, attracting the attention of a prince by 
his appearance and intellect. A man of few years, 
rising into eminence at court. The middle aged 
man, neglecting his duties as a bishop ; planting, 



390 WOLSEY. 

silently and effectually, discord between a weak 
minded king and loving wife ; sentencing to 
death every one that dares disagree with his opin- 
ions ; and putting forth every energy to secure to 
himself the papal throne. Then the presenting 
to his king such an unheard of palace as Hamp- 
ton Court. The opening eventually of the king's 
eyes ; the Cardinal's fall, sudden and humiliating ; 
his finally appreciating the fact that if he had 
only " served Grod as faithfully as he had served 
his king, he would not have given him over in 
his orev hairs," all teach a solemn and true lesson 
of the mutability of every earthly position, 
however low, however high, and however grand ! 
Tracing Wolsey's life from his birth, we find 
him at the summit of power, though not of his 
ambition when Anne Boleyn was received into 
the full favor of Henry VIII., he having in order 
to accomplish this divorced from Queen Catharine 
at the suggestions of the Cardinal. The Cardinal 
was in turn disliked by Anne Boleyn, who thus 
becoming Queen, incensed the King against 
him. The height of Wolsey's ambition was to fill 
the papal throne. This gained he would have 
felt himself secure against all enemies. Before 



HIS FALL. 391 

this was gained the " cloud no larger than a man's 
hand " arose. This momentarily increased. He 
fell. Shakspeare in King Henry VIII. , lays the 
plan of Wolsey's fall in his having presented to 
the king some state papers for perusal, by acci- 
dent he included among them. 

" The account 
Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together, 
For mine o*rn ends ; indeed to gain the popedom, 
And fee my friends in Rome. Oh negligence ! 
Fit for a fool to fall by." 

He also included a letter which he had 
written to the Pope. The papers having been 
returned to Wolsey by the king with a frown, 
Wolsey examined them, and ascertained the cause 
of the frown. 



" What's this-To the Pope ? 
The letter, as I live, with all the business 
I writ to his holiness. Nay, then, farewell ! 
I have touched the highest point of all my greatness ; 
And from that full meridian of my glory, 
I haste now to my setting : I shall fall 
Like a bright exhalation in the evening, 
And no man see me more." 



While the Cardinal was in favor he lived in 
a state of splendor far surpassing the king. He 
retained in his suite eight hundred persons, 



392 WOLSEY. 

among these were numbered the sons of the 
nobility, many of whom thought it a distinguished 
favor to be servants of so mighty a man. His 
dress was of velvet and gold, and all the trap- 
pings of his horses were highly ornamented with 
gold. " In his hall he maintained three boards, 
with three several officers ; a steward, who was a 
priest ; a treasurer who was a knight ; and a con- 
troller who was an esquire; also a confessor, a 
doctor, three marshals, three ushers of the halls, 
and two almoners and grooms. In the hall 
kitchen were two clerks, a clerk controller, and 
surveyor of the dresser, a clerk of the spicery, 
also two cooks with assistant laborers and children 
turnspits — twelve persons ; four men of the 
scullery, two yeomen of the pastry, and two 
paste layers under them. In his own kitchen 
was a master cook, who was attired daily in vel- 
vet or satin, and wore a gold chain , under whom 
were two cooks, and six assistants." In addition 
to all these, he had several yeomen in the larder ; 
several in the scullery; several in the buttery; 
more in the cellar, in the ewry, in the laundry 
thirteen pages; in the bake house, wood-yards, 
barns, boats, stables, every place was crowded with 



WOLSEY. 398 

servants. In attendance on him at all times 
he had twelve doctors and chaplains, four lawyers, 
a long list of secretaries, a musical society, 
heralds, messengers, gentlemen-waiters and every 
other kind of attendant imaginable. Many of 
his attendants kept four horses, with trappings as 
rich as those of the cardinal's favorite. 

It was at this point in his greatness he dis- 
covered, 



" How wretched 
Is that poor man, that hangs on princes' favors. 
There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to, 
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, 
More pangs and fears than wars or women have." 



Hence his descent was rapid. He was 
ordered to retire to a small country seat, from 
which could be distinctly seen the place where he 
spent the days of splendor. The world, even the 
best friends he had, who paid him such servile 
court during his bright career now deserted him. 
This though not natural was perfectly human. 
He was soon notified that he was out of all pro- 
tection of the king or law; his vast estates were 
confiscated; and on foot, unattended, he started 
for Leicester Abbey ; but growing sick and faint he 



394 WOLSEY. 

was finally taken charge by Sir William King- 
ston. He was shortly afterwards placed upon a 
mule, and escorted by a few persons, started for 
Leicester Abbey the second time. Here he 
arrived; — the gate was opened, and the heart- 
broken Wolsey exclaimed, 

" Oh ! Father Abbot, 
An old man, broken with the storms of state, 
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye, 
Give him a little earth for charity." 

The Abbot received him kindly, and attended 
him until his death. Kingston also remained 
with him. The last scene of his life was thus 
recorded by the Abbot. 

"Nov. 28.— At last Wolsey died, < Master 
Kingston, farewell, I can no more ; but wish all 
things to have good success. My time draweth 
on fast, I may not tarry with you. And forget 
not, I pray you, what I have said and charged 
you withal; for when I am dead ye shall per- 
ad venture remember my words much better.' 
And even with these words he began to draw his 
speech at length, and his tongue to fail, his 
eyes being set in his head, whose sight failed 
him." * * * * "The clock struck eight at 



HIS DEATH. 396 

which time he gave up the ghost, and thus 
departed he this life." * * * * "Here is 
the end and fall of pride and arrogancy of such 
men, exalted by fortune to honors and high 
dignity; for I assure you, in the time of his 
authority and glory, he was then the haughtiest 
man in all his proceedings that then lived, having 
more respect to the worldly honor of his person, 
than he had to his spiritual profession — wherein 
should be all meekness, humility, and charity; 
the process of which I leave to them, that be 
learned and seen in divine laws." 

How truly could Wolsey say the words 
ascribed to him by Shakspeare. 



" I hare ventured 
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 
This many summers on a sea of glory ; 
But far beyond my depth ; my high blown prido 
At length broke under me; and now has left me, 
Weary, and old with service, to the mercy 
Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me." 



THE END. 



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